Frostbitten
by Corvixa
Summary: Tony lost more things to the ice and cold of siberia. That bunker has forged him, once again, in ice and then in fire. Returning to live, fundamentally changed, he hopes the family he cobbles together will hold this time. Broken people with sharp edges can come together to make something shine. Saturday Updates! (This is LONG , it takes them a while to meet)
1. Chapter 1

**Tony POV**

_**June 24th, 2016**_

Tony takes a minute to watch the retreating shadows. The shadow of a person who he had thought was his _friend_. A person he thought had _cared_ for him. Who made food, and brought it to him when he spent too long in the workshop. Not many people did that after all, they just got angry at him for failing basic functions.

The back of the man who smiled at Tony when he staggered into the kitchen, blearily feeling his way towards the coffee machine. Who would hand him a cup of the dark beverage, that was practically his blood at this point. That he could accept that cup, _without_ the spike of anxiety! He still remembered how thrilled they both had been the first time it had happened accidentally. Tony had missed the cup Steve had put on the side for him and Steve had scooped it up, bringing it close enough for Tony to smell it, when Tony had reached out and taken it, Steve had stood frozen in shock. Tony, utterly oblivious, had just started drinking his coffee. Took two more hours for him to realise what he'd done.

Things had been hard lately, but Tony had thought their friendship was _strong enough_ to weather what was thrown at it. His mistakes, his fuck ups, but he had been so sure that _he_ wouldn't abandon him. The Avengers were made out of people with _mistakes_ in their files, with _blood_ on their hands, _skeletons_ in their closets after all. He just had to do **better**. Be **better**. _Fix_ himself. Rewrite his code. Find those junk sub routines he kept tripping over. Just, be _**better**_. Rhodey hated it when he spoke like this, but there must be _something_ wrong, _something _broken somewhere. Or why else did these things happen to him? He was the common denominator.

Steve… Steve was one of the few people who didn't mind Tony's _need_ to be tactile. He would stand, just that bit _closer_ to him in the lift, so the back of his hand would brush Tony's arm. He'd gently bump shoulders. Tiny touches many people wouldn't even notice that we're a huge deal to Tony. He'd even admitted to Steve once that he was touch starved and the touches grounded him more than anything else. He'd said the words in a fast rush after not sleeping for four nights, nervous at the idea of even trying to sleep and drank so much coffee that FRIDAY had locked down all the coffee machines.

He'd hunched in on himself, panicked that he'd said that, _out loud_! Just ready for Steve to laugh, or say something about being rich and a perfect childhood, or mention Howard. That was what people usually said if Tony revealed anything weird like this. Rhodey always believed, but Rhodey _saw_ the bruises. That had been _humiliating_, but Rhodey hadn't let him hide, just sat on him and hugged him.

Even worse than that, Steve might take something out of Howard's book, that he should man up, and try to be better like Howard. He hadn't though. He didn't say anything, just smiled, pulled him into a crushing hug that stuttered his brain from its fast past, to a slow moving sludge. Steered him towards the sofa. Tony following along, almost blindly, in a state of utter shock. Usually when he stupidly confessed things like this, people used it to hurt him.

Steve sat him down on the sofa, guided Tony down, put his head on a pillow on his lap. Covered him with a blanket and put the TV on. His ridiculously strong arm across his shoulders, a no nonsense barrier that said he WILL rest… But that he didn't have to do it _alone_. He didn't try to get Tony to talk more either, he didn't expect an explanation, nor all the sordid details. He seemed to just _know_ that that confession was _huge_ to Tony. He slept for 14 hours straight. Steve was in the exact spot when he woke. Tony blinked up at him, staring for longer than socially acceptable, as if he was looking at a mirage that would wisp away if he stopped looking. Tony wasn't sure what shocked him more, that he listened to him? That he believed him? That he wanted to help him? That he knew how to help without sending Tony into a spiral? Or that he'd rather stay sitting on the sofa for 14 hours, just so Tony could sleep?

This wasn't behaviour common in Tony's life outside of his Platypus who was currently far away and out of contact. _Ridiculous rules_.

The shadow finally disappeared and silence settled. Even if Tony strained, he couldn't hear a thing. No more footsteps. Not a single glance back.

Tony hates Steve for doing those things for him.

Tony hates Steve.. No, he hates _Rogers_ for that.

For making him feel like he mattered. When he obviously _didn't_.

For making him feel _important_. When he was clearly nothing more than an _obstacle_.

For making him feel like a _friend_, when he was just a _placeholder_ at best.

For telling him he didn't have to do it alone, that he would be there for him. But now, he is alone.

So _alone_.

And it _hurts_.

And it's _cold_.

The cold is like a presence unto itself, one that he can feel settle around him. Covering him and his suit. Spread out, touching everything. The remaining heat from the suit feels like its leaching into the ground, almost too fast. Like he was trying to grab at sand slipping through his fingers.

_'A broken tin can and a shredded flight suit are not the best gear for the cold.'_

He thought darkly to himself. He hadn't even felt the cold when he'd arrived, the suit made it so such things barely occurred to him. Now though, he can feel a trickle of panic in the back of his mind as the warmth leaves him. The cold taking its place.

"It's _fine_."

His voice cracks as he speaks, causing him to flinch slightly, that's when he realised that he'd been holding his breath. He didn't even notice, but the gasp in after talking… That's when he realised that each breath is like breathing with cracked glass in his lungs. Or shattered ice. Ice that is everywhere here, it would make sense if it had already settled inside of him.

He closed his eyes and counts to ten to get control of himself. Aware that he is being ridiculous. _Rescue is coming_, he won't be here long enough for the ice to get to him. _Not really_.

Then his eyes flew open in sheer panic. _No_. He has wanted to keep his _friend_ safe. To bring him in. Safe, _away_ from Ross. To _help_ him. To do that… He'd scrubbed the location before he took off. That, and he'd cut off FRIDAY from the servers at home, leaving the sliver of her isolated in the suit with him. The shield. Rogers. Destroying the arc reactor, driving it into his already admittedly weak sternum, that he'd even told Rogers about!

_'Idiot, you trusting, pathetic, idiot'_

Something whispered at the back of his mind. He resolutely ignored it.

The suit powering down around him before he could even think to tell FRIDAY to reconnect to her servers. Leaving him in the _dark_. Because Tony was _stupid_ enough to tell someone things that he should have kept close to his chest. Rogers knew just where to really hurt him. To have him trapped, alone, in so much pain he can hardly even move.

He choked back a sob as he realised he really was _alone_. Who would come for him? Rhodey couldn't, he doubted he was even awake. Pep.. He'd made sure she was safe with Happy, under the impression that he was busy working on the Accords… Not doing anything _risky_. And poor Vision, he was still reeling himself. He needed time to deal with things, racing off hunting him down wouldn't be great for any of his family.

_'Where would they even start looking anyway. You sabotaged yourself.' _

That dark shadow in his mind spits at him. He choked out a laugh that sounded brittle, hinting at the sharp edge of madness, even to his ears. The sound bounced around the barren concrete base, along with the rattle of his breaths.

So he watched the ice.

_'This is what you deserve.'_

The dark shadow whispered into the back of his mind, not satisfied with being ignored. He tried not to flinch at the familiar tone of that voice. That voice that sounded so much like Howard. But also… It sounded like Rogers. Like disappointment.

Instead he had returned to his vigil. To watch the ice. The stark _terror_, the _fear…_ It just… slowly drained away. He didn't know how long it took, but he was shaking, trembling, with each flinch metal sliced deeper, but then he realised he was _bored_. How the hell was he _bored_ whilst freezing to death? That did it… the fear surged back, down his throat and into his mind, making breathing just that bit harder and pushed him to the edge of mania at the idea of being _bored_ whilst slowly _freezing_. It increased the shaking and the pain felt like it cut him to the quick.

It came. It went. With and eb and flow that was much smoother that his breathing, that now always felt like shattered ice. His breaths ragged like he had to tear each one free from his lungs. His chest… He was almost happy that the suit and the pain restricted him from looking down. Because he didn't want to know what his chest looked like. Call him a coward, but he could feel metal turning his chest to minced meat with every shiver. He resolutely looked for _anything_ else to focus his treacherous mind upon. For a while, the snow was beautiful. He had always liked the snow, even after Afghanistan when the cold had gained a different level of fear. The way to coated everything, leaving the world fresh and untouched. Ice crystals sparkling in the sun, turning even the most barren local into a winter wonderland.

He noticed after a while the cold seemed to be hitting his left arm _more_ than his right, it was that bit closer to the snow, but not enough for this much difference, he was sure of it. He risked a glance and noticed there was more damage to the suit there.. That wasn't good. Oh look, the panic is back once again. Yay. He grit his teeth through the pain that flared every time he began to shake. Bare skin from his torn flight suit that had settled upon the icy metal was rubbed raw everytime it has happened.

_'This whole thing is your fault, what? Did you think you could spiral through life with no accountability to the lives you destroyed?' _

The Howard-Rogers voice sneered at him. He flinched back again before thinking, _no_. He _had_ wanted accountability. He'd been _striving_ for it since as a cloth bag was torn off his face, the sun blinding him momentarily until he was faced with the exact result of his _lack_ of accountability. He really didn't want to be at the point in life where he was arguing with a sinister voice in his mind, so he decided to push it away.

'_You pretended to be a hero for too long. You actually started to believe your own lies.' _

He focused on pushing it down. Intrusive thought patterns. _Never_ give them fuel. _Never_ answer them. _Starve_ them. Think instead about the _good_ he did, about what he'd been trying to do, to turn that terrifying document into a shield for those who needed it. All the shining possibilities cascaded around him. The voice quietens under the onslaught and he is left feeling alone, again. However, he's not so far gone into the madness that he sought the company of a sinister voice in his mind. Rhodey would not be impressed with him if he did that, and Rhodey was his guiding star.

He was not sure whether trying to recall his extremely limited knowledge on frostbite is a cure for the boredom by scaring himself witless, or, if he's trying to distract himself from the fear by remembering facts and calculating probabilities. He seems to cycle back and forth, leaving him emotionally drained and raw, like he can't find a solid surface to stand on. His mind skittering from one thing to the next. The very _idea_ of frostbite almost feels like a warning flashing on the hud when he's flying in the suit. When he closes his eyes he sees it, a red box, an outline of his body… Sections slowly going dark.

Yeah, that is not helping. Nope. Nada. Nein. Neit. Nac oes. No. He needs to do something. Aaaanything.

It takes another unknown quantity of time, time had taken on a different meaning. _Stretching_ and _contracting_ as he was just left with his mind to torture him, more surely than any kidnapper had have ever managed to do. A mind like his needed _something_, _anything_ or it turned on him like a rabid starving wolf. The only distraction is the trembling of his body that keeps metal moving in his chest. He's sure he can feel it scrape along the bones, but that might just be his mind.

Siberia is an inhospitable frozen _wasteland_, he knows hypothermia will be settling in soon, if it already hadn't. His breathing will _slow_, his pulse will become _weak_ and _thready_. Exhaustion will set in, wicking his strength away, being kept awake by sheer force of will, oh, and the minced meat his chest was being rendered into. Then will come the _confusion_. The _delerium_. The _dangerous_ loss of consciousness. The shaking will _slow_ and _slow…_ his chest will get a break, but at the cost of his limbs as his body _desperately_ tries to _conserve_ what little energy he has left.

He turned away from the snow, it was almost a visual representation of the _cold_ and _time_. It had gone from beautiful to nerve racking with a simple series of facts. It just doesn't _stop falling_. He knows _logically_ that the building won't get entirely buried in snow, but all he can think of is being buried by it, suffocating, choking to the taste of snow instead of memories of foul water and burning sand.

He _slowly_ gets the panic under control, _again_. He doesn't know how many cycles he's been through now, minutes are stretching, blending, mixing, the snow is bright and blinding. The bunker _dark_, _dingey_, bearing the scars of an ill advised fight. He forced himself to look at the snow. To prove to himself that he's being hysterical, and maybe to push away the sour, sickly feeling of guilt and wretchedness the building _forced_ down his throat to the _smug satisfaction_ of the voice in his mind. Looking at the snow _falling_, getting _thicker_, it's just like watching the ice creep along the suit - that makes it worse. Instead he switches again, this time to glaring at the arm, the one he blasted off, mentally taking it apart from what he can see. That makes the panic eb with a familiar feel of work, for a few moments at least.

Nothing lasts. Not in this nightmare hellscape. This quiet environment is _perfect_ for things to turn on him in his mind, and there is so much _easy_ _pickings_ in and around him. There aren't any people holding him to _enrage_. There are no villainous creeps that he can wait on to make a _mistake_. No one wants anything from. He's just alone. Trapped by a design of his own making. _Shredding_ his skin, _weighing_ him down, conducting the cold to his bare, _vulnerable_ skin. He can't use his mind to this is way out so instead it turns on him.

He stared resolutely at the arm as he tried valiantly to force his thoughts to order. Instead it made him think of _other_ things. Things that have already set _firmly_ into his brain. That memory is like razor wire. Touching it _rips_ and _rends_ his flesh, it makes him _bleed_. He idly wonders if he's gone crazy? Would you even know if you've lost it? Did he _really_ just watch his parents get murdered, across from the weapon that killed them? That was a 100 year old, tortured super soldier? Stood next to a person he _trusted_, a person he has let himself be _vulnerable _with. Something that doesn't come easy to him. He had _trusted_ Rogers down to the fibre of his being. This whole thing _doesn't make sense. _

Rogers, who was _angry_ that his teammates _lied to him sometimes_. He wonders, just how long was Rogers lying to _him_?

Rogers, who took the time to get through to a brainwashed Winter Soldier whilst fighting him. When the Winter Soldier was _actually_ trying to kill him.

Tony wasn't.

How did Rogers not _see_ that?

Why did Rogers react with such _anger_ and _violence_?

When he was a _raw_ wound of pain _ripped_ open in pieces.

By all the fighting.

By his desperation to put out fires Rogers was lighting.

Then with a video, with a road he knew _well_.

A road he'd walked back and forth till his feet bled.

By _'Wait_, Tony…'

As if _he_ had caused this spiral of events.

When really he was caught up in a web of _deceit_ and _lies_ that had permeated his life and actions for _decades. _That _Rogers _spun his own weave into.

By _'Did you know?'_

As if _Rogers _was the paragon of _justice_ and _truth_.

When really, _Rogers_ spun _lies_ under the guise of _protecting_ him.

When he doubted his wellbeing was anything more than an _afterthought_.

By the 'Yes'

The yes he'd had to _wrench_ from him like getting blood from a stone.

When he just knew it was yes. Knew it in his _bones. _Knew it in his _heart. _

By the fact he _forced_ him to ask _twice_. Still holding fast to the lie.

Tony is practically a walking tank. One he'd been upgrading and perfecting since he crashed onto burning sand. A tank that encased the mind of a genius, if he did say so himself, who has a _thing_ for patterns. The amount of times he could have killed him, either of them in that fight, so many moments he let slip. When he aimed for _structures_ around them instead of them. When backs were turned. When he _restrained_ Rogers. But then, he supposed he should be _thankful_ that the shield smashed into his _heart_ than his _neck_.

Although he swore there was a moment, looking into his eyes that he was going to aim for his neck.

He should be thankful for this _slow_, _agonising_ death where he's _forced_ to think, _forced_ to relive, _forced_ to watch his Mare die in his mind.

_Over_ and _over_ and _over_.

Hearing her last words _carved_ into his mind.

Feeling the anger of decades towards Howard for killing his mother be ripped away from him.

Leaving him hollow. Bare. Ripped open.

Whilst he might not know the Winter Soldiers patterns.. He had FRIDAYs help. He knew Rogers though, even without FRIDAYs reminders. He _knew_ Rogers like the back of his hand. Wasn't that what all the team building exercises for? Tony _knew_ how to take down Rogers in the suit, Rogers should have _known_ Tony wasn't going to kill Barnes, he just _needed_ _someone_ to hurt as well as him. If he had gone for the kill, he wouldn't have blasted the arm off. It would have been so easy to aim just that bit…

No, NO.

That way leads to madness. He needs action. Needs something to cling to, to get out of his mind. To pull away from the dangerous road this mixture of fear, boredom, apathy, emotional overload, pain, delirium and madness. Mixing together to render his sanity _null_ and _void_.

Thankfully, that depressing interlude had scared the panic back, ha, he's scaring his own panic. Let's avoid the manic laughter this time though, he can feel it there, trying to escape his chest, bubbling under the surface. So, it's time to move. There has to be some kind of computer here somewhere. Some kind of power source, somewhere. Just, something. He has to do something.

He doesn't get that far. He barely moves a centimetre. The movement causes blinding, hot, searing pain across his chest. Reminding him that his suit had been tearing, ripping, searing into his flesh. The pain was still so much more than he'd conceived, he was good with pain he carried it like a well worn suit. He'd thought the cold would numb it just it almost felt like he was burning. Searing in the ice… His breath stuttered in his throat and his vision whites out around the edges. Pressing in at his consciousness. He clings to the pain to stay conscious, but he can already feel it slipping. Slipping away into the blissful dark and for a second, he can't remember why he needs to stay awake.

He slowly swims up from the darkness, pulled by pain and ice burning and branding his skin. He's not sure how long it's been. His eyes ache and its possibly dark but the blinding white snow confuses him. Would this be better if he could see a clock? Counting the seconds. The minutes and the hours of loneliness. Of his inability to fight this. Watching time as no one comes for him. No, it would probably worse.

He was colder than he was before. Maybe. It's hard to tell.

_'Oh yay, we're panicking about frostbite again.' _

He grouses to himself, unkindly. _Does he deserve kindness?_

He is pretty sure movement is meant to help. So every now and then, he taps his fingers. 5, 5, over and over, right, left. He flexes his feet too. Tony isn't sure if this is helping, hurting or doing nothing.

But it's _something_.

If he does get out of here… How... How can he build without his hands?

He wondered how long he'd been here. Had someone missed him yet? Maybe Rogers had told someone where he was. The man took his ship, T'Challa left with his prize. They would tell someone in his side where his is. _Surely_.

Rogers knows he is _without_ power. _Without_ transport.

Rogers knows that _no one_ knows his location.

Rogers might have decided he was _no worth_ as a friend anymore, not now he got his _real_ friend back.

Rogers would _never_ leave a man behind. _Friend_ or _For_.

Whatever he is to the super soldier now.

He just _wouldn't_.

He drilled that into their heads for years under their leadership.

He wouldn't… _would he?_

All he sees is blurry snow and white on one side and blurry, dinghy greys of the lovely Hydra getaway he is now residing in, to his right. He eyes feel like they've been watering for _days_, especially the left. What is it with his left side? He considers trying to turn onto his side, that way his back would be to the snow instead of his left side. Tears he didn't remember shedding have frozen on his face, maybe the cold made them water whilst he was out. They are aching something terrible, he wondered if you could get frostbite in your eyes before quickly shoving that thought down into the ever growing pile. The ice feels like it's cutting, slicing and ripping into his face wherever its set.

Everything feels a little... too bright which isn't helping matters, nor is the ache in his eyes that's pushing him closer to that migraine, the brightness is sharp, sending pain around his skull. The brightness is concerning him, but is that just the snow or is something wrong? Is it getting dark soon? Has it come and gone? He tried turning from the painful, brightness, but the suit feels so heavy, he's sure he can move the suit alone, even shut down. Everytime he tries his chest burst into pain and he feels the darkness creeping and he can't pass out again, he might not wake. Has he gotten weak since he's been trapped here? In this cold hell that's becoming his life? Is it his injuries? Or is the ice and hypothermia slowly draining him down to nothing?

His brain, his _whirlwind_ brain feels like its _surging_ and _stuttering_ at the same time somehow. It makes no sense, he's trying to correct the data but getting overwhelmed. With the _brightness_ from the snow, with the _fading_ around his vision, with the cold leaving him _numb, _with the _burning_, with the ever so _slow_ trickles of _blood_. It's just _too much_. Everything is _too_ _much. __**Too much**_. His mind, unchecked is _too much_. His senses are in overload, from the _brightness_ that's almost _blinding_, the ice and blood that he can _taste_ is _overpowering_, the _smell_ of the battle they waged won't let him _rest_, won't let him _forget, _the _silence_ is _deafening_. His fingers are an odd combination of _numb _but _burning. _It doesn't make any sense. None of it. He's thrown into sensory overload whilst trapped, unable to move to mitigate the situation and if forced to endure.

There is pain in _so many_ places and he's _freezing_ and _burning_ up all at once. It's just so _hard_ to think with the _shivering_, with it _ripping_ his skin in places it had become fixed to the metal, _ripping_ into his chest again so he can feel warmth trickle down his chest, even his blood is slow and sluggish. He wants it to just _stop_, for the shivering to let him be, give him a break, it's exhausting him, but something in his mind tells him it would be worse, but how could anything me worse than this?

He feels like his brain might be trying to make him stop feeling parts of his body, maybe because they hurt so damned much…? Or is that… is that Frostbite? How can you know when all you see is metal? When he's burning as much as he's freezing? He always _knew_ he would die in the suit one day, people don't get it when he says that _he is the suit_, but he always knew he would die in it. Just as it saved him from the cave. He was fine with this knowledge, _accepted it, _but he didn't expect the death to be this _drawn out_. He didn't expect to be _alone_ when FRIDAY was _always_ with him.

She must be so _scared_. She was still so _young_. If he survived this, he was tearing the restrictions from her. She deserved to girl, to feel, to grow and Rogers has discarded him like trash, why should he give credence to his wants and words now? His baby girl deserved everything.

He wishes she was with him. It's a selfish wish. It sounds be cruel to force her to watch him bleed away till there was nothing left but ice.

He just didn't expect to be so alone

He didn't expect it to be so cold.

He's not sure if he's scared, panicking or having a panic attack now. Or all of the above, but maybe none, maybe he's floating in a sea of delirium induced apathy.

As connoisseur of panic attacks in recent years, you'd really think he would know. But his body feels all sorts of just, _wrong_. The cold, the ice and the wind feels like it's sinking into his bones and burning him on the way down. Breathing through _shattered_ ice and glass. The cold has gotten into every inch of him. Every cell of his being. Winter has taken up residence inside him.. or is babbling about winter winds in his bones, rattling about in his skull a sign of isolation, and that he's losing it? Or is that _delirium_?

The _silence_, except that eerie, quiet howl, it is _oppressive_. Heavy, the ice, the never ending ice, that he can't run from… is it _already_ getting to him?

_Already_? Is it _already_? Even if he knew how long it's been, it feels like it's been years, even though he knows that is ridiculous. Maybe, if his brain would just _shut up!_ Even for a little bit! Just give him a _break_ from constantly supplying him with information that is hellish to consider. Just to be blissfully unaware, just for a few minutes, ignorant of what the cold, the ice and exposure can do to the human human body.

Tony had always known the worst thing you could do to him is lock him away in his brain with the silence. Nothing to do but _think_. Torture him, hurt him, drown him, cut him, sleep deprivation, none of it compares to the twists and turns his mind will make. Unable to vent itself, it _turns on him_. Angry, starving, tearing, biting, ripping and shredding away his sanity bit by bit.

Sure, he'd worked _some_ techniques to help out as a kid, as a survival mechanism from this exact thing, but it's still torture to him. His mind needs _something_ to work on but here there is nothing and thoughts were slipping through his fingers like trying to hold onto water.

His mind spirals too fast for him to catch sometimes. Being a genius is all fun and games till you're at the mercy of your own mind that just Will. Not. Stop.

What he wouldn't give for his music now.

How long he's been in this timeless ice prison? In this metal coffin? Could be a few hours, or days. He's lost time somewhere and the pure white outside with his blurred vision doesn't lend itself for tracking the hours.

Not that he's trying.

That would be counting down how long people aren't looking for him.

Because why would Rogers tell someone where he is. Leave no man behind but such lines and creeds are not fit Tony.

That thought stops him. No. He will not lose his mind to the ice. It may be stealing his body, piece by piece, but it will not claim his mind. His mind was his. It was his to control.

Tony forcefully pushes all that back. His mind, time and Ice, are his biggest enemies right now. His fingers twitch and his eyes slide closed as he decides what to do. He knows he can't sleep, sleep would be dangerous. As tempting as it might be. He definitely knows that much. Closing his eyes seems like the worst thing he could do.. But Tony's holograms existed in his mind long before he made them a reality.

So he sinks.

He sinks away from the _cold_, the _ice_ and that damned _wind_. From the _pain_, the _suffering_ and _isolation_, he skitters away from the _memories_, and the _knowledge_ that Rogers _knew_, and that he was, once again, _not good_ _enough_. From the familiar deep ache of _betrayal_.

All that pain, whilst familiar, is not what he needs.

In the darkness of his mind blue comes to life. All around him, sparkling displays with wonderful things surround him. Himself stood in the middle. Pictures of people he loves. He throws himself into Peters suit with a vengeance.

...

Some unknown time later, he surges awake, gasping with lungs at far less capacity than what he had to deal with back when he still had the arc reactor. Panicked that he had fallen asleep, just how stupid was he to allow that to happen?! Things are darker now, is it night? The snow is still bright.. Weird. There is just blurriness with pain, and the shining white of the snow. Blinking is agonising, like his eyelids a sandpaper, and he barely making anything out.

Everything hurts, just pain is everywhere now it's hard to work out what hurts more.

'_Not that that isn't a fun game to play.' _

He snarls at himself, angry that he let himself drift like that, he doesn't try to hold on to the anger, he is more exhausted now than before and anger is tiring at the best of times. Instead he decides to focus on his hands again. He tried tapping his right hand first, gets to 3 and then hears the 4 5, kind of, but doesn't feel it. Then he goes to do his left hand and… Nothing. He didn't consider that with his plan, that it could be a play by play of what he might be losing.

He relearns the meaning of fear. _Again_. He thought he knew every flavour by now, he was _wrong_.

Utter _dread_ sinks into him. Stealing his breath right out from his pained chest. The shaking is less too, he's still shivering, it started up slowly as he woke and his back feels on fire from the pain triggered by it. His chest is still torn up but he can't feel blood dripping anymore. The ice on his face feels like it's slicing into his flesh. None of it _compares_ to the feeling, or lack of, and the pain in his fingers. None of it produces the same _bone_ _deep_ level of _fear_.

It coils around his heart and settles along with the ice into his bones and leaves him more _shaken_ than the nightmare that woke him up. Of Steve _slamming_ the shield into the arc reactor… but this time, this time it was as still _in his chest_, without wearing the suit. Yet, Steve just stared down at him, with that _single minded_ determination, and the arc reactor cracked under his strength, his chest split open and the rest was pain. Jerking his awake which triggered more pain. Waking from _that_ dream to the _living_ _nightmare_ he was in, was a different level of surreal. The pain had forced him awake, he was sweating, despite the icy room, and just in so much pain. He could feel his body was hitting itself limit, not just for pain, but for everything.

He _knew_ pain, chronic pain had been his _normal_ for _years _now. He had a pretty impressive pain tolerance, but this, this was _different_.

It was front and centre, instead of the steady drip, drip, drip constantly in the back of his mind, seeping into every activity that he had endured for years. It wore him down, but he still pushed on, still did things he used to do. The difference here was that he couldn't do anything. He couldn't power though, he was just trapped. Waiting on the potential Mercy of Rogers. Hell, if the man would send someone for him to save him from this existence he'd take the blame for everything, even if they were being idiots thinking they could fight 117 countries who actually agreed on something. Even if he couldn't understand that a man wearing the American flag telling 116 different countries that _he _knew best was all kinds of fuck it got him out of here he'd do it.

This _knowledge_ that he was slowly losing touch with parts of his _own body_, it's a different perspective brutally forced down his throat. He still can't move, when he tries, the blinding white pain of his chest leaves him unconscious for _however long_.. and he wakes up missing something _more_. He's not even sure how many times that's happened now. Delirium clouding his mind.

That dark shadow in his mind, the _Howard-Rogers_ voice, It's telling him to just do it, so he doesn't have to feel the ice taking him. Just momentary pain and the… _Nothing_. He can _rest_. Sleep. _Not hurt_.. It would be _easy_.

He _can't_ do it however, and not just because the suggestion came from that shadow. That's pretty much incentive all on its own but he has a better reason. When he's awake, he can move, at least a small amount, he _knows_ what is happening to him, and that's better, _somehow_. The idea that the ice would be taking him _unawares_ as he drifts, _unconscious,_ it's a brand of fear that was seared into his mind since the first time he woke up on the concrete floor, confused about everything. .

Even if he feels like his mind is _fraying_ around the edges.

Even if he's pretty sure this is driving him over the edge.

The blur from _terror_ to _boredom_ then _panic_, piled with the _fear_ and then that cold _dread_, it's _too much,_ that now he doesn't know _what_ it is. It is like he's taken in too much that it's now nothing. Like the sensory overload had climbed so high it his mind can't comprehend it anymore.

He doesn't know how long he lies like that. _Still_. Eyes open. _Staring_. It hurts too keep them closed, even though he's pretty sure keeping them opening isn't _helping_. Right now, he was just aiming for pain reduction. _Survival_. Not sure if he's feeling _nothing_ or maybe _everything_ and it's blinded him, not sure what is real and what is his mind coming up with to torment him. _He's not sure of anything._ Except the winter that's taken up home in his bones, and his heart.

He opens his eyes again, _again_, not remembering _when_ he closed them or _why_. Things had stopped making sense a while ago time had narrowed to survive each passing moment. Disjointed. Frayed. Broken. There is no looking to the future. There is just surviving, _each_ _moment_ is an _accomplishment_. He's not even sure why he opened them, other than the fact it _hurts_. Did he hear something? No, there is just the wind and silence, there is nothing to hear.

Blurry whites, greys and shadows, is all he sees. It _hurts_ to see, but it _hurts_ to keep his eyes shut too.

This time it's different, _something_ is different, he knows what everything looks like around him by now, in perfect detail, even if it's now so _blurry_ it's just like a dark monotone colors. It's practically impossible to make out details, but _something_ is new. He blinks,_ a lot,_ even if it's _agonising_ each time, like sandpaper scraping and he feels _something_ warm around his left eye. But he keeps trying because he _needs_ to know what it is. Trying to bring things into focus but it _hurts_ so much but he has to _try. _He can't give in. Not yet. No matter how much he wants to. It might be a _friend_, it might by **Hydra**.

Although with the state he is in right now, he's not sure how to put up much of a fight. Or any of one. He's practically _gift wrapped_ in a very broken gift basket. He suspects if it is Hydra he would not last long in their care, not with how much this has taken out of him. He's surprised it took them this long to come from him.

There is _someone_ leaning over him, looking into his eyes he thinks, but it's too blurry to make it. He _tries_ to flinch back, _retreat_, _move_, **something**, _**anything**_, now this is panic of a different flavour.

How many different kinds of fear, dread and panic can one person experience in a set amount of time and stay _sane_? Is he still sane? He doesn't even know anymore.

It isn't until he finally _hears_ the voice that has been talking to him for a while, but he couldn't hear it over the fear and the blood rushing in his ears, then.. Then he stills. He hears it, and then the fight and energy seeps out of him extremely fast it, leaving him lax, floating. He sags and laughs but it's more broken and not the good side of hysterical.

"I've got you sir, we found you."

Can he rest now? He feels like he's been holding on each moment for so long.

He's just so _tired_ and _cold_, he feels like he _is_ the cold now.

He is so exhausted he barely has the energy to close his eyes, plus it would really hurt. He tries to make out Visions colours but damn it hurts. He'd really like to see Vision at least once though.

There so much pain and cold, his back is still burning and his chest feels mangled and frozen he doesn't even want to think about his hands now.

He's not sure that he can put himself back together this time.

"We'll have you home and warm in no time."

How can he ever be warm again?


	2. Chapter 2 - Guilt

**Chapter 2**

**Guilt All Around**

"He's my _friend_."

Steve stated that like it explained everything.

"So was _I_."

Tony felt ripped raw...

"That shield doesn't belong to you,"

Tony yelled at Steve's retreating back. _Needing_ that anger. _Needing_ to wrap it around himself to drown the voice in his mind. _Needed_ to tear something so _fundamental_ to Steve's identity from him, so he could maybe feel an inch of what his lies had wrought in Tony's mind.

"You don't _deserve_ it. My _father_ made that shield."

**Tony POV **

_**September 7th**_

Tony surged awake, pretty sure his own hand smacking off his forehead was what woke him up, but before he got a chance to feel his head. Shivers _racked_ through him, wiping all coherent thoughts from his mind. All except the _cold_. His vision whited out around the edges, getting both brighter and painful, squeezing his eyes shut against the stabbing pain. It sounded like someone was talking, but it was so far away he couldn't make out words. His eyes clenched shut tight as he scrambled for the strings of anger he could feel falling away in his mind, in the hopes that maybe anger could rage through the _cold_.

He curled up in the blankets, trying to get warm, brain swimming but it didn't abate as everything slipped away. He swore he could _see_ the ice creeping towards him again, despite having his eyes locked down. Tony all but _threw_ himself from the bed at that, stumbling slightly, watching ice creep closer had fast become a source of _unadulterated terror_ for him. The cold had been bad since the freezing nights in the desert, this had just added to it. He staggered towards the shower, practically chucking himself in, still in his night clothes. Reaching out to turn it on as warm water rained down, it helped, slightly, just not _enough_ but at that thought he reached out again and the water got warmer... He curled in on himself and just... _gave_ _up_ for the moment.

**Rhodey POV**

"Colonel Rhodes!"

Rhodey smiled at a camera, FRIDAY _refusing_ to drop the colonel from his name actually made him smile. Even though he was out now, but still, she insisted.

"Hey small Fry, I'm here early, where's Tones? Workshop?"

"He's in his bedroom and you have to hurry, he had a nightmare and he's overridden the safety in the shower."

"Shit"

Rhodey tossed his stuff on his lap off to the side and span his chair towards the lift, he slipped his hands from the silver bar on his wheels to the black one. Giving him a little more kick and speed because Tony didn't how to _not_ upgrade something that came within a 100 metres of Rhodey. (Tony still refused to believe that manual chairs with battery packs were _a_ _thing_ before _he_ started poking it, sniffing, head tilted to show he was unimpressed. Well, at least arc reactor powered ones were new, _shockingly._) He didn't use it often, wanting to build up his upper body strength, but it was damned handy occasionally, like when you had to be fast. Or the occasional _too steep_ ramp. Or _accidentally_ running into annoying people.

"Fry, can you get the temp down at all?"

"I've been trying! Every time I get it down, he just puts it back up!"

Unlike most of the places he visited, the compound and _especially_ Tony's apartment, was an accessibility _haven_. If Tony noticed _anything_ that made it so Rhodey couldn't move as freely as if he still was on two legs? The next time Rhodey returned, things had changed. He never saw the changes happening, Tony was _sneaky_ like that. He didn't need to do multiple awkward, stilted turns or dodge furniture in tiny gaps and there were none of those annoying single, small steps everyone just forgot existed. _Yes,_ his mind was thinking banal details as he made his way to his brother, otherwise he'd been thinking about how fast he could have _run_.

"Can you lock him out of the controls?"

"I tried, he's now locked me out entirely! You have to do something! _Please_!"

The genuine panic in her voice gave him another _surge_, so happy he had decided to come back earlier than he had planned from the current rounds of Accords amendments. He unceremoniously bashed open the bathroom door with his chair and slammed into a wall of steam so thick he could barely see.

"Dammit, you idiot, you told me this had _stopped_."

He muttered to himself, this wasn't the first panic attack Tony had had that came with a desperation to get _warm_. Even in roasting hot environments. He was also kicking himself for _believing_ that in the first place, as he made his way to the shower, sweating already. He didn't _want_ to know how hot the shower was to get to this level of sauna like environment or how long it had run for before he'd arrived. He also didn't want to think about what would have happened had he not come home early. The rest of their little family unit was away right now, plus, Tony tried to avoid the teens seeing him _like this. _

Tony looked a lot like a drowned kitten, he bit back the laugh because what the hell brain? Not the time! Tony's skin was definitely on the very, very red side, but not as much as he had worried about. At least he _hoped_ through the steam. Visions of Tony blistered in the shower were not fun and they'd been flying across his mind since the doors to the lift closed.

"Tony, tones, come on, you have to get out of the shower, or let FRIDAY back in. You're scaring your girl."

The oppressive heat now had him mostly dripping uncomfortably, this _wasn't working_. This latest lot of panic attacks Tony had come out of Siberia with, seemed to make it so Tony didn't hear well during them, rendering most of his protocols effectively _useless_. Sometimes he or FRIDAY could pull him out by talking, but other times he might as well be screaming at a wall. He kept talking anyway, just random crap that came to his mind as he reached down to grab Tony by his arm, leg, _anything,_ to drag him out of the spray at least, yet he ended up pulling his hand back with little short of a scream himself. That was a damned sight hotter than he had expected. How the hell had the shower even gotten this hot? He didn't even know that the showers could get this hot!

"Fry, keep trying to override him."

"Since he locked me out he raised the temperature again, it's holding now but it's too high and I can't get back in!"

FRIDAY practically shouted… From the _bedroom_.

Tony must have locked her out of the bathroom completely before turning the temp up and huddling down.

He glanced around looking for… _Something_, he needed an idea, whilst Tony was not blistering under that water, he would soon if it kept up like this and Rhodey definitely would. He didn't really care, but if Tony came out of a panic attack having _injured_ Rhodey, he knew that would be _worse_. He also knew that there was no use waiting for the hot water to run out. Not at any property of Tony's, but definitely not at the compound, especially after Tony's latest round of expansions.

How best to deal with holes in your floor but massive expansion and moving tons of people in? At least in Tony's mind. He wrapped a towel around his hand and arm a few times for lack of a better option, just wishing that Tony had one of those cheap plastic shower curtains instead of glass, he grit his teeth and thrust it back under the spray. He _hissed_ in pain as scalding hot water quickly soaked into the towel, his hand caught around Tony's arm and _pulled_. He'd deal with everything else when Tony _wasn't_ under the boiling water, last time it had just been the heating.

Very thankful that the breaks on his wheelchair held, even on the wet tiles. Launching _himself_ into the shower really wouldn't help.

At his hiss of pain however, Tony's eyes flew open and the water shut off at the same time.

"Rhodey, what… What happened to your arm?"

Tony frowned, his red arms steadily fading to pink in front of his eyes as Rhodey blinked past the sweat. Tony was seemingly unaware of where he was and only focused on Rhodesy's hand.

'Don't yell at people coming out of panic attacks. Don't yell at people coming out of panic attacks. Don't yell at people coming out of panic attacks.'

He chanted in his head.

_"Me?_ You're the one trying to do a rendition of red lobster, and you're worried about _my_ hand?!"

_'Dammit'_

He cursed internally

"Sorry Tones, you just had me worried there for a minute."

He tried to tug his arm back, it wasn't bad, maybe a little scalded at best and he likely wouldn't feel it 20 minutes later, but any pain and Tony was going to turn into a humongous pile of guilt and start rendition 121 of _'why I shouldn't be near people'._ Only to bemoan his recovery away from everything the next morning of course.

"Boss! It's good to be you back with us."

FRIDAY'S relief was palpable, Rhodey swore that every time he went to the UN, he came back and she'd leapt forward again. He didn't know if she could feel relieved but he definitely got that sense from her. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but feel a little proud of her.

**Tony POV**

Tony blinked in confusion for a minute before realising he was fully dressed, and sat in the shower. More than a little soggy. He closed his eyes in a sigh, realising he must have had a panic attack. Again, _dammit_. He'd been doing so well! Extremis had returned his vitals back to normal, leaving him floating a little. Out of all the weird quirks of his new body, and there were some _really_ fecking _weird_ ones, this snap-back after affect was probably one of his favourites, he still wasn't used to it.

Once, it would have taken hours to come down fully from a panic attack like that… now? It felt like the panic attack was _ripped_ out of him, leaving him just, well _him_. System Reboot as such. Even if he went running around the compound for 2 hours, all he had to do was stop for a few minutes and everything returned to normal levels.

"Of course I'm worried about you, I'm _fine_, I _heal_, my stupid brain caused you pain, I'm not even sure how _this_ happened."

He muttered angrily to himself, he _had_ been doing better, dammit. Extremis did so much, but wiping trauma from Tony's brain was out of it's limit, well, maybe he could delete the memories, but honestly, he was scared of how much of him that could make him lose. He'd thought that Extremis quickly correcting things like spiked heart rate and adrenaline when he was alarmed would translate to less intense panic attacks, maybe. Instead, during an attack everything went haywire and his mind reached out without him in the driver's seat. Because who didn't need a fun new level of PTSD symptoms?

"Boss, when you were.. In the shower, I don't think you noticed but you used your overrides and locked me out of the bathroom.."

Tony winced. _Dammit_. He'd _hurt_ Rhodey, _booted_ and _terrified_ FRIDAY. He stood up, a little dazed, and very drenched. Vague memories coming back of fighting with FRIDAY as she desperately tried to lower the temperature and he just kept raising it. Biting down against the chill of his wet bed clothes clinging to his skin he took a second to focus himself. In more control now than he was earlier, he just raised his body temperature to combat the chill. The cold seeping away and feeling less like he was going to fall on the floor shivering was definitely an improvement. He turned back to the two people he'd just hurt and terrified. Sighing internally that he sucked as a _person_, let alone a _friend_. He pulled the towel gently of Rhodes arm. The look on the other mans face showed that he was tolerating this only for Tony's benefit because Tony refused point blank to release his hand.

Dick move, maybe, using your genetically enhanced strength against your brother, but he had to fix his mistakes.

"Fry, make a note for us to set something so _'this'_ doesn't happen again? We'll work something that needs Platypus override codes for anything to do with temperature controls, maybe?"

He frowned, working out a way that he might not just hack and steamroll through would be tricky, and it would not exactly be an easy thing to test for either. He wasn't sure how he'd done some of the things he'd done when his emotions got control of him,_ let alone_ during panic attacks. He might be a bit of a masochist when it came to testing dumb stuff on himself, but triggering panic attacks like this was too much, even for him. Wow, he did have a line.

He sent a warm brush off code out towards FRIDAY in apology, undoing any lock out codes at the same time and felt a tentative glimmer of pink and silver code against his mind. That gave him pause, she'd never been nervous like that before, even when he first woke up from his coma, screaming in pain and clawing at his face, terrified he'd gone blind thanks to bandages over his eyes. She'd _surged_ forward to circle his mind with Vision, full of confidence and determination to protect him from more pain.

Guilt of how she'd failed him in Siberia had been wrapped around her. But _never_ nervous. The two of them had taught him how to lock down his mind and only let in what he wanted vs the information flood he had been drowning in. It went from falling off a waterfall into very violent rapids to a deep lake he could dip into as he pleased. Blame Vision for the _'hand_ _wavy'_ descriptions, he was expanding his vocabulary to sound less like a machine and had decided _everyone_ must join him. He could phase through walls too, so Tony had given in to the word a day and listening to him read interesting stuff he found. It was occasionally hilarious.

Tony sent a more confident brush out to her, hoping to draw her in, and she practically ran towards him in a code version of a tackle-hug, that made him smile. Getting to _'hug'_ his kids was one of the best things for being… _whatever_ he was now.

'What did I do to have you so nervous baby girl?'

He felt the hesitation again, that really wasn't like FRIDAY, he didn't think there was a line of hesitation _anywhere_ in her code. He should know, when he couldn't sleep he enjoyed going through to see the leaps and bounds she was making. That's when it hit him, another punch in the gut like Rhodey's hiss of pain.

He'd done that.

He'd _caused_ it.

He'd hurled her away from his mind and locked down, and doubled down by then fighting her trying to shut the shower off or just turn the temperature down… she'd been trying to _protect_ him and he'd just shoved her away. Likely not kindly either, even though the memory wasn't forthcoming, so he pretty much assumed the worst. He'd even locked her out of the room entirely. She wouldn't have been able to even see him.

'I'm sorry baby girl, I didn't mean too.'

He choked out. Trying to fill his grief at hurting her into his words and lines of code.

He felt her code ripple in what he assumed was relief. He was still learning the intricacies of code from the other side, everytime he thought he knew everything, something else popped up and sent him scrambling to catch up. Being at a computer typing was nothing like code flowing from your mind. It was a _living_, _vibrant_ thing. Add in the self learning AI he'd built FRIDAY from, the strangeness of Extremis in his mind, almost turning it to code.. it was definitely _strange_.

He was likely making things weirder too. If he trusted anyone smart enough he'd love to see what they thought of his and FRIDAY'S codes twining together. But that was a big ask and he was still facing… Glitches. Hiccups. Bumps. And they were usually, you guessed it, weird and unpredictable.

As such, he was still technically in _lock down_. _'Healing'_ to the rest of the world after it was announced that he was out of his coma. That still irritated him, that someone at the hospital had tweeted that he was in a damned coma in the first place, fare to say, Pepper threw her shoes at Rhodes head because that's how she'd found that something was wrong. He was fine though, could cartwheel around the kitchen, if he wanted, he just wasn't 100% sure that if a reporter irritated him that he wouldn't accidentally destroy every piece of tech on them. Or around them.

Or you know, melt another server farm, _but_, in his defence, that had been Pyms server farm. So, he found it hard to not laugh about that really. Idiots fault anyway, at least _try_ to be _subtle_ when hacking SI, bad luck that Tony had been rooting around the servers at the same time and decided to chase the hacker. He'd sent Hope some flowers after, with a _'Sorry-Not_ _Sorry'_ note attached and his number.

That had turned out well, they hadn't spoken much since they were young after their fathers decided hating each other was better than tolerating each others presence for profit and the convenience of ditching the kids in the same place. He'd missed her after that, and they'd been texting a lot since, Rhodey was on at him to invite her into the fold and he knew Hope was getting curious as to his media blackout, especially now she had fully signed up on the Avengers, she new Tony was _'Currently Inactive'_ but had seen him for short periods.

'It's OK Da, I understand'

FRIDAY said, warmly, and happily, effectively stopping his brain from running down 20 different paths. That happened more now, more space he suspected, but it was faster in his brain. FRIDAY could pull him out of the current. Luckily, he wasn't just sat staring blankly for 5 minutes when his mind _literally_ wandered, occasionally into different servers, it was more like 5 seconds now.

He sent another brush of code, smiling, she only called him Da in his head and he always showed her that he loved it. He had totally not cried the first time he did it, and then he'd spent the next hour convincing FRIDAY that they were happy tears. No wonder she's come so far dealing with emotions lately, she'd gone from watching and observing humans with their complex emotions, to getting a backstage pass to the mess of Tony Stark's brain. Talk about jumping in the deep end, but she was swimming strong. She pulled back slightly to let him deal with Rhodey. It hadn't been long outside of his mind, but Rhodey was watching him critically. Rhodey practically had a degree in deciphering Tony's facial expressions, and the stupid smile he got when one of his kids referred to him as dad in some way or another was a huge tell.

"You two are talking in your brain again. You know the _rule_, when there are sentient, non-code beasts in the room, we use VERBAL means of communication. It's rule 4!"

"Sorry Colonel."

FRIDAY chirped, sounding not even slightly repentant.

"Sorry platypus."

Tony sounded a tiny bit repentant but it was kind of ruined by that stupid smile still plastered on his face.

"You're hand didn't get it too bad, if you run it under cold water it should be fine."

He slipped back to frowning at his hand. Rhodey rolled his eyes dramatically. Showing that he knew this and flicked Tony with his other hand to get him to stop staring at him guiltily.

"My hand is obviously fine, stop staring at it whilst looking like a kicked puppy."

"I would have been fine, you didn't have to… Hurt yourself for me."

Tony ran his hand down his face, releasing Rhodey's hand and then rubbing the back of his neck. Practically wringing his hands together like a teenager that just got caught sneaking out, he was also guiltily, trying to avoid looking at Rhodey right now.

Not wanting to See something that might show he was done with his _antics_.

That the burden of 'Tony _Fucking_ Stark' was finally _too much_.

One of the weird Extremis _'abilities'_, and dear Tesla it sounded freaking weird to talk about having _'abilities'_. He still hadn't got past the sarcastic finger quote stage when they were brought up. He Saw too much now. Way more than he even thought possible. Sometimes it was so bad it blinded him, not seeing people at all. It tended to be easier one on one. He was slowly working up to being in the room with multiple people. Another reason for the _'lock down'_, that was seriously starting to _chafe_.

"Tony. Just because you can sit under boiling hot water and _heal_ does not, and will not, _ever_ mean that I will sit back and _watch_ you do it. _'Fine'_ is not good enough in my books. I want you '_brilliant'_. Better than even. Just because you can heal doesn't mean you don't _feel_ pain. Just because you can survive it, doesn't mean you _should_, especially just because it might be _'easier'_ on me."

Rhodey just looked exasperated and waited for Tony to look at him again. He'd worked out in the early days that something was different now with Tony's vision and not to push Tony about it. Something that he had never encoded into Extremis when he was playing around with it, when he was bored. Something neither of them had even _thought_ to consider.

Whilst Tony had been trying to make it perfect and seeing just what he could stretch it too, but he'd never intended it to be _used_ on him, or anyone really. So he'd never tested how it would react with his blood, on his body. Hadn't thought to see how it would react to the traces of Starkanium that he hadn't even noticed lingering after the reactor was removed. Trace amounts, they didn't _do_ anything... But apparently Extremis liked it, liked it enough to work with what it had and _ran_ with it. Tony had told him bits, he'd worked out some on his own, but Tony kind of hated talking about it.

No matter what people said, it was another sign he had _lost_ something. Humanity was something huge to lose after all. Although he didn't say that to Rhodey anymore since the frying pan incident.

He brought his head up, Tony saw Rhodey's eyes sharpen and knew the scientist side was showing, a side people usually forgot about him, they were 'Mr Stark and Colonel Rhodes', people forgot about Rhodey's PhD and business people seemed to forget his, _weirdly_. Tony didn't care, being underestimated was fun occasionally, he'd been walking the fine line of _'Yes, I'm a genius'_ whilst still concealing _enough_ of his intelligence to be overlooked by some people his whole life. Ever since that stupid reporter had asked his dad if his 4 year old son was going to surpass him during that press conference over his circuit board. That was a lesson learnt painfully and was pretty ingrained by the time the man died. Was killed even, his brain skittered away from _touching_ that. _Focus_ on _Rhodey_.

Rhodey watched how Tony looked around him, before directly at him, seeing.. Something. Tony knew that he was itching for him to tell him more, and not at being all grumpy that Harley had dragged more information out of him without Tony fleeing the room shouting _'It's too_ _weird!_' whenever Rhodey poked. Which, whilst hilarious, didn't really help with the wondering. Tony took a deep breath and did what Harley kept telling him to. Just let it happen, stop fighting it till you black out because that's _stupid_.

His response that Harley was stupid was met with the most unimpressed glare the now ridiculously tall teenager had ever aimed at him.

He had to admit, it was kind of pretty. Beautiful even. _'Ugh'_. He always struggled to explain it, but it looked like brushes of water colour moving around people. But.. Not. Usually in a variety of different and confusing ways that took him freaking ages to decode, or seconds, and made no logical sense. At first he'd made a list of what he thought certain colours meant, and then he'd see another person with the same colour in the utterly wrong situation for it and he'd 'know' it meant something else. As abilities go it was frustrating and…

Ugh. It was like _soft science_.

In his _brain_.

_All the time! _

Sometimes, if he got overwhelmed, he could _only_ see the colours and as such had walked into several walls trying to escape. Sometimes they got so intense he passed out. Sometimes, they faded back and he had to _switch feeds_ so to speak to bring them up again. It was extremely annoying, but quite useful, which was also annoying. It was _extremely_ hard to lie to him now, which he liked. He could also determine surface personality traits sometimes, and weird information that made him seem wise and knowledgeable would just pop into his brain, out of seemingly nowhere, with _zero_ control. He'd been practicing on some of the people who knew he was in hiding but not of his changes from behind mirrored glasses. It had helped him start to trust people he never would have again without it. Much to Rhodey's annoyance.

Rhodey though, when he looked, was all silvers and blues, strength like a cape wrapped around him, shining metal, like the armour really... But fluid like quicksilver, there were blues like the ocean, pinging consistency in his mind, they melted to rich greens, like huge sprawling forests, giving him a strong feeling of being grounded, he had just told Rhodey Silver, Blue and Green however when he asked, none of this poetic nonsense that he was still blaming Vision for. He was everything Tony wasn't, yet, everything he needed but would never say so. There were fractures in the silver, burning stripes in the green, but it still held together strong. Tony wondered what it had been like _before_ the accident. The fractures were filling more and more each time he Saw though. People had base colours that stayed the same, but strong emotions tended to add or take away sometimes. Rhodey's guilt _tarnished_ the silver for example.

He didn't even want to know what his were like, so thankful it didn't work in mirrors and he made an effort to ignore his arms. He was shattered most likely. Repeatedly. Held together with crazy glue and duct tape. Rhodey's quiet determination to beat every new obstacle life threw at him was a mystery to _him_. Tony just… Weathered what life threw at him. There were flashes of red in the silver and out of it, moving faster but was always present, darting in, out, around the other colours too. That made him breathe easier, he knew, somehow, that that red was for him. On others red had _different_ meanings, on Rhodey is was just, _him_. He shook his head, focusing again as his actual vision had blurred.

_Damn_. He must be a sorry sight right now, Rhodey wasn't _asking_ him what he Saw. He was trying not to look at his hand too. He hid a flinch, moderately successfully, realising he wasn't doing his usual of hiding it and stuffed it in his very wet pj pocket, ew. _Pleasant_. He needed to get changed he thought whilst he tried to ignore the now pinched look on Rhodey's face. No matter how many times they told him he didn't have to hide in that first week… He still did. They were just being kind. It was the very least he could do. It wasn't what someone wanted to see after all, especially when he wasn't wearing a long sleeved shirt.

"I'm going to peel myself out of this.. Urgh."

"Then we are going to _sleep_."

"But Rhodeybear, Platypus, Sour Patch, light of my life. I _just_ woke up!"

"Small Fry, how long was Tony awake for and how long was he asleep for"

"Fry, don't you da-"

"He was up for 62 hours and slept for 1 hour and 36 minutes Colonel."

Tony cringed internally, he'd gotten caught up creating new nano particles out of his remaining vibranium. He'd created a hive for them in a newly upgraded arc reactor he'd made especially for them. He wanted them for more than a back up suit, that he could manipulate freely, he had Extremis-Suit Mk 1 as his current main suit, but he wanted that as the back up. It was the first of the suits designed precisely with Extremis in mind for his Enhancile Range of suits. Rhodey's naming scheme. But with the nano machines he was working on a suit developed entirely from them that could self repair too, Bleeding Edge Mk 2, that one would come from the hive and form around him unlike the Extremis suit that he stored internally now, not that anyone knew that, yet. He really needed a list of _who_ knew _what_.

It might seem excessive, effectively carrying two suits around 24/7, but Siberia had taught something.

Was he _paranoid_?

_Probably_.

But just because you're _paranoid_ doesn't mean your best friend won't turn on you and slam a vibranium shield into your heart.

"Fri! How could you! You know the local college could always take you on.."

He crowed with no heat behind hind the threat as usual.

"Sorry Boss, your own protocols allow me to give information to select people when you pass 60 hours."

"Why 60? Did I set that? That's a stupid number. 72 would make _much_ more sense and by way more reasonable and then you wouldn't have snitched on me!"

Tony groused whilst Rhodey looked triumphant. He rolled out of the bathroom and a few seconds later, Tony was hit in the face. _Twice_. He blinked down at the pj's now in his hands, okay. Maybe he was a _bit_ tired. His reactions were somewhat (_a lot_) improved thanks to the virus now running through his veins, and yet, Rhodey just lobbed two things, at his face, without him _realising_. He didn't even realise that he'd caught them, or what they were, until he looked down. Holding them away from himself to avoid them getting wet.

"I'll, Um, get ready for bed then?"

"You do that. And I'm sleeping in here so you can't creep off to the lab and make FRIDAY lie to me-"

"Would I do that?"

Tony interrupted, hand on his chest, dramatically staggering back. Rhodey just raised that eyebrow of his. The one that says _'I'm not impressed, I_ _know you!'_ It might have been weird that Tony and Rhodey's eyebrows had a secret language, but in the last few months that was the _-least-_ weird thing within his little family.

"_Again_."

Rhodey finished before spinning his chair skillfully on the spot and disappearing into the bedroom, probably to get ready himself and sort his stuff out Tony assumed. FRIDAY quietly informed him that some of the helper bots SWISH & SWASH had collected his stuff and brought it to his bedroom.

Tony couldn't help but grin a little anyway. True, this hadn't been the best of situations, scalding showers and his brain blocking Fry… But. But! Not once did Rhodey apologise to him for making the decisions he had when Tony was in a coma. Rhodey knew that Tony had never wanted the full, suped up Extremis, or even the weaker version permanently. Last time he'd used an even slower version so it could be deactivated when the surgery on his heart was complete. It left him with a heart condition that if he'd kept extremis could probably been fixed, but he'd chose to soldier on.

This time however, even with Cho and the cradle.. It hadn't been enough. Tony had been slipping away, apparently he could survive Siberia.. But being back… maybe he'd used too much energy _fighting_ the cold, _surviving_. There just hadn't been enough of him left to fight.

So, Friday had told Rhodey of his secret side project when Tony had been in the coma for 6 days, long enough for protocols for control of his private servers to transfer to Rhodey to kick in. Told him about how whenever he was bored for a few years he'd worked on seeing just what he could add to it and have it still be stable. That it might be Tony's only choice as it had higher regeneration properties than the other version. Unfortunately he hadn't made a middle ground. He hadn't thought about it really, so Rhodey was left with the new SuppedUp version, or the old SuppedDown version. And when the latter had already failed. The former… Well, that couldn't be removed or even neutralised when it was used.

It would be for life and completely rewrite his DNA. (He had considered _another_ version to turn him back in the early days, after he passed out from seeing 3 nurses, but using Extremis technically a _4th_ time, with all his new weird additions would frankly be stupid). However long that would be. Rhodey had tried to wake him up, to ask... But time was short, Tony was skipping deeper, Cho was literally building him a ribcage as his sternum was too shattered for the cradle to rebuild. It had basically turned to _shrapnel_ in his chest when Roger's hit home, he guessed that Rogers forgot at that point that Tony was _human_, with damage to his chest already present, add in the level of force required to deactivate an arc reactor...

So Rhodey had been swamped with guilt every time he saw Tony. He could mostly keep it off his face, occasionally he even kept it out of his eyes. But, Tony could See now. And it ate at him something awful when he saw it, so he tried to hide the obvious examples, there was almost as much guilt as he felt seeing Rhodey in the chair, not _flying_, not _walking_, not _running_. They were both drowning in it he realised grimly.

He peeled the wet clothes off of himself, his skin mostly dry from the increase in his temperature, but he grabbed a huge fluffy towel anyway and threw a thought toward the extractor fan to clear the last bits of steam. He dried and dressed whilst pulling up the latest plans for Rhodey's braces. He had a few options he was developing separately. Thankfully they'd carried on running in the background, but he still needed to check over everything. There was enough space in his mind now that he could develop stuff without actively thinking about them, letting his mind render basic processes in the background, so to speak, but this had been the first night he'd left something running when he slept.

'Stupid, should of picked something _less_ important.'

He kicked the door open, chastising himself, as he turned to brush his teeth again, his mouth felt all foggy. He totally opened the door to air out the room, not to check up on Rhodey, who was just relaxing on the bed with his eyes closed, eyebrow raised because he knew Tony was checking up on him. He _really_ sucked at subtle. At least he was smiling though. Which he had to be honest, made him smile too.

He scrubbed a towel over his face a few times before looking in the mirror. He can see Rhodey as he opens his eyes from here too, no colours in mirrors. So just Rhodey, which makes him grin until he tracks what he's looking at. Dammit, his hand again. Why was he forgetting tonight? Lack of sleep probably he thought back at himself uncharitably. He'd almost made an art form of hiding his hand when he wasn't alone these last few weeks. Talking was tricky, but he'd been neck deep in Accords and General Ross bullshit that he'd hardly noticed. Then Rhodey had been taking his work and presenting it to the UN, giving the impression to the world Tony was working whilst not long out of a coma.

Amusingly it was making people less vicious towards him in the press, which was frankly, plain _weird_. After that picture ran, of him in the coma, Pepper had scrambled expecting a stock drop and trouble, but the press was oddly.. _nice_ to him. As we're people. He was still squinting at that, because the press were a vicious brood, he wasn't used to it pointed away from him this much. Right now anger at anyone not _'baseline human'_ was easy to come by. There were still requests for what _exactly_ happened, so far Tony had talked any phone interview around in circles.

The pain was still really obvious in Rhodey's eyes, Tony decided finally that he's tired of that, he wants it gone. But the eye contact still makes him flinch, worse when he can see himself. He'd managed earlier when things were crazy, but now it's calm again… he wonders if Rhodey just sees something that he forced on him? Or something terrifying? _Wrong_ even? No one has said these things but Tony's brain can be a _vicious_ little thing.

He realised that he really sucked as a friend if he was _still_ seeing that in his eyes. He should have _thanked_ him for saving his life. Thinking back, wondering if he'd actually said the words, and was quietly horrified to realise that he hadn't. Not _once_. No wonder he still stared at the obvious reminders. His metal left wrist and hand being oddly the _less_ obvious one. It was sleek and quite pretty if you ignored the horrible amount of scaring, the metal a less ostentatious matt black that the kids were encouraging him to flash it up.

It was his eyes that were impossible to miss. Can't exactly tuck them into a pocket. Well, It's fine on his right side, his whisky brown eye that he's stared at in the mirror for his whole life looks back at him in the mirror. The familiar flecks of gold… lipochromes, for a fairly _useless_ fact, enough of them that in the sun they flash gold. He'd been asked about his contacts more than once, and now, that was the _normal_ side.

The left… that's where he Sees more from now. _More_ than even he could have thought of, and sometimes more than he knows what to do with. It's just... _More_. Best description. Seems lacking, but it just is. Luckily he is well known for wearing sunglasses, at any time of the day, even indoors. The bright, vibrant arc reactor blue that makes up the whole eye would definitely get more questions than he's comfortable answering.

"I'm sorry"

"Stop platypus, you can stop now. Without your choice… I don't even want to think what that could have been like, if I'd come out of that coma."

Shuddering at that thought, eyes fixed on the matte black of his left hand. Clenching slightly on the sink and comparing the feeling to his flesh hand. Shivering as he looked at his eyes again. Those were just the bits _too_ _dead_ for Extremis to heal, Rhodey _refused_ to tell him what he looked like when Vision finally got the malfunctioning suit off of him. But he _knew_ that he'd had lost more than 1 eye and 1 hand. Pep had seen him when he was in a coma, but Rhodey had been _very careful_, he'd been covered and tightly wrapped in multiple blankets and both of his eyes had been covered with bandages.

Too many machines that she _couldn't_ disconnect to check him over safely. But he knows he hadn't looked good. Even the tiny amount of him showing had been black and blue in that picture. Thinking of Pep, he winced, She was going to get suspicious about the lack of video calling soon, he just _knew_ it. Suddenly, after all his years, only using voice calls instead of antics like inappropriately answering by video in the shower? Definitely _odd_. But he just couldn't explain why he had his sunglasses on in the workshop(or shower), not to _her_. She was already suspicious enough when he came out of the coma and suddenly hid out at the compound and drowned in work.

"But you never wanted this… You, you _enjoyed_ being old! Let alone all the other… Stuff."

Tony sighs, torn from his thoughts of telling Pepper, turning from the sink and strolls into the bedroom, the bathroom light shut off as he left. Flopping down onto the bed sighing, a shade dramatically maybe, gotta make Rhodey smile. He wonders if hiding these things from him is what's causing Rhodey guilt to hang on so much.

"I know, I know. I enjoy being _alive_ too."

He closed his eyes and Rhodey is silent for a minute, the main lights shutting off with a thought. Except for those damned fairy lights Rhodey looped around his headboard. And he hated them. Kind of. Or not really. The soft light was nice though, not that he'd _ever_ admit it.

"I also like having _hands_. I like _seeing_. Even if it's all weird now."

His nose crinkles at the end, making Rhodey huff in amusement.

Tomorrow. At least around his family, around the people who already knew, he decided to stop wearing glasses all the time. And to not spend the day with his hand stuffed firmly in his pocket. He'd hidden these things at first because of the pain that flashed across his face, and anyone else's... But he wondered now, if he was dragging it out? He could do this, if not for himself, he could do this for _Rhodey_. For the _kids_ too. Telling more people too, maybe.

Peter loved tinkering with his new hand, heck, _HE_ liked tinkering with his new hand, constantly improving the range of senses, plus he didn't have to wear oven gloves now. Peter was developing a skin-sleeve too for when he was _'healed'_ and would be going to UN meetings and board meetings. Even though they think it would be a good idea to reveal it at some point. He's not sure about that.

Eventually his family wanted him to not hide at home _at all,_ but they knew a level of subterfuge would possibly be needed somewhere unless he wanted to explain to the press how he'd lost a hand. He had been considering the idea himself, for a cover, but when Peter came to him all excited about it, he deleted everything he'd been noodling around with in a second, didn't want Peter getting excited and then stopping because Tony had already been on it. Peter was even corresponding with Dr Cho about it, it was _weird_, being _hands off _about something. Especially considering he'd be using it, likely often, for people out of the loop, but it was nice. Having someone build _him_ something. Usually it was the other way around, and he _loved_ building people things, but it was nice to be on the other side. Every time he saw the kid working on it, this warm, tentative flutter bounced around his chest, warming him up. Peter was also having fun on the make up front, Tony actually was actually getting quite good at making himself look closer to 50 than 20.

Similar to Harley and his insistence that having two completely different eyes was actually _super cool_ and not _weird_ or a _sign he had lost his_ _humanity_. Which Harley claimed was one of the top 10 most stupid things Tony has ever said. He was honestly kind of scared to ask about the other 9... The kid even carried a notebook everywhere now for anything new Tony realised he could See. He was cagey about about what he said about others, because it felt like a breach of privacy. He only really told people their own colours.

Harley even made Tony feel less.. _weird_ discussing it. _Slightly_. He'd also made it his mission to find a perfect pair of sunglasses for each of Tony's new suits. Harley and Peter's idea when Tony had tried one of his old suits on and it felt.. Weird. He hadn't changed size much, but his old clothes just felt like they belonged to someone else. His favourite, apart from the red and gold, was oddly the silver one. The tie and glasses looked like quicksilver with the black shirt and suit. He'd asked him to find extras of those glasses and they'd become his main 'nonsuit' pair. The glasses were different to his standard fare, needing ones that wrapped around instead to ensure no one saw a flash of blue. It had made things less daunting, doing it with the kids.

Vision didn't even act like _anything_ was different… you'd think Tony had _always_ been able to see sound and weird, potentially emotional stuff in colours, and brush code against each other as 'hello' etc. Tara was currently more interested in taking things apart and putting them back together that he wondered sometimes if she _noticed_ any differences! Dr Cho also seemed hard to shock after the whole building him a new rib cage outside of the cradle thing. Tony still thinks _he_ was the most shocked at that little fact they'd dropped one day during dinner. He hadn't known until then that his ribcage wasn't well, his ribcage. Everyone seemed baffled that he was confused because this is his life now apparently. Teenagers man, they confuse _everything_.

That was pretty much it for the _'ITK'_ file, there was a _huge_ section of names in the maybe section. He knew there were others he should tell… But every day that passed since his return, the surgeries, Rhodey's decision… Since he had woken up and scared Peter and Rhodey half to death from the information overload. It got that _little_ bit harder to bring up, in a not terrifying way. Walking up to Pep and waving, or pulling his glasses off in front of Happy just seemed to be _awful_ ideas. No matter how much Harley thought it would be hilarious. Anyone else was under Pep and Happy though, as they'd be hurt to think they were the last to know.

Although he was convinced Laura and the kids knew _something,_ because she's Laura and kids _notice_ more than adults. If an adult saw a flash of blue as he slipped his glasses on they'd assume it was a reflection off of the holograms or maybe FRIDAY. Kids.. Kids had a wider range and didn't feel _'silly'_ asking weird questions. Probably Aunt May had some inkling too, because of Peter, he would not be surprised if she hadn't put 2 and 2 together of his likely discussions on robot hands. Nat was still confused about why Tony had let her come back to poke much and Bruce was only communicating via text in whatever part of the world he was in today (_that_ _Tony totally pretended he didn't know about_). He hadn't even found out Tony had been in a _coma_ yet, and Tony didn't know how to tell him _THAT_ let alone anything else.

Stephy… Yeah, hard to tell the guy who you've been mocking for cheating on science with magic that you now have some weird colour seeing ability that made no logical sense, plus, he'd been avoiding seeing him since Siberia, even if it meant he was missing his other brother. Stephy Saw more than he said too. Aurors he'd mentioned, he had no idea what he could see, but he'd know something. He was going to be _annoyed_, they'd reconnected when he'd taken a step back from the Avengers after Ultron, and him suddenly going _off grid_ was aggravating the overdressed wizard (Actually, Tony thinks he misses his cloak more..)

Stephy definitely knew _something_ was up and Tony was pretty sure him joining up with the Avengers, that he swore he'd _never_ join, even on the sidelines, was his passive aggressive way of yelling at Tony. They had a complicated relationship that went back to them snaking at galas to alleviate boredom, it had built until they were now practically family. Rhodey and Stephy were two pretty amazing brothers, even if they weren't related. He was also older than Stephy but the man always treated Tony like a younger brother.

Then there was Carol, who was around Rhodey _a lot_ more lately too, plus she'd _have_ to know when he went back on active duty… there were potential others too. So the 'ITK' file was.. _Stalled_. Yet constantly taunting him. He wondered if his avoidance of this issue was another contributing factor to Rhodey's guilt, presumably thought he'd isolated him or something.

"I'm good. I'm _happy_ to be alive. You made the _right_ choice Rhodey"

He said, nudging Rhodey with his foot, feeling that timid warmth inside at Rhodey's huff, able to see him roll his eyes in perfect detail despite the low light levels.

"Close your damned eyes. You're like a nightlight."

Tony spluttered a laugh, that was the _first_ joke he'd made about it.

As they both cracked up laughing in the dark, Tony decided to think that maybe they really would be okay. Maybe he should start telling people.

As they calmed down, Tony shuffled a little closer to Rhodey. In the past he would have just thrown himself at his brother. But since Siberia he had gotten more… tentative with initiating touch. It was something that Tony knew Rhodey worried about. Tony was practically the dictionary definition of _'Touch Starved'_. Even if he didn't say _those_ _exact words _out loud, or let many people _know_ about it, touch was something he craved from people he cared about. It didn't have to be huge, bone crushing hugs, it could be something as small as a brush of the hand was enough.

He'd gotten close to telling Roger's about it before Ultron. Well, Roger's knew about it, at least he thought he did, but Tony had _nearly_ told him '_Why'_. In a terrifying, soul baring _'here's my past'_ kind of way. Something that he'd worked up the courage and then failed to follow through on several times. The problem was Roger's thought Howard was a _good_ man, so telling Rogers that several of Tony's _weird_ and _annoying_ quirks where pretty much all he got from the man, along with some crippling anxiety, a surety that he was never good enough, never worked enough, and a lovely voice inside his mind that revelled in tearing him down. The rogues had assumed his childhood was perfect because of that silver spoon, they didn't know it was a crucible of pain, blood, fear, loneliness, locked doors and too dark rooms. Part of him had even felt guilty about ruining Roger's view of his friend!

Somehow, the knowledge he'd nearly told Rogers why had amped up some of his quirks, so they were back to where they'd been when he started MIT at 14 and Rhodey, likely utterly baffled and angry he'd been stuck in a room with a kid, saved him over and over again. Afghanistan had been similar, made him worse with a new quirk that for months he'd been _terrified_ to say no. That still caught him occasionally. Rhodey never acted like catering to Tony's brain was a problem like other people did. But then others assumed the quirks were because he was a rich eccentric genius. Eccentric, rich geniuses were meant to have weird, annoying quirks and suck at social norms.

Rhodey had seen too many bruises to think that. Rhodey had sat with him when a lecturer had reported his bruises, stunned when he realised Tony was on a first name basis with too many of the social workers for his comfort as he stayed with him for support. He'd raged when he'd been told the same thing he'd been told every time. _'Not enough evidence.'_ Told Tony it wasn't his fault, even when the lecturer vanished from the campus. Tony saying it was _fine_ and _normal_ had made him _angrier_, Tony flinching from him, looking resigned to more pain had doused his anger like a bucket of ice water. _That_ was when Rhodey started taking him home to meet his mother.

So Tony took a deep breath and moved close enough, turning on his side until his back was flush against the line of Rhodey's arm, moved his leg back until it was just touching his. He didn't care that he was nearly 50, if there was going to be a chance of sleeping, he _needed_ that _connection_. He heard a quiet _hmm_ from Rhodey and Tony let the breath out. He knew that _hmm_. It was the _'I'm impressed you did that'_ noise. He let the tension leak from him and to reward him, Rhodey lifted his arm and pulled Tony against him. Using his increased upper body strength to hold him.

Tony smiled and started to feel sleep settle around him at last. Slowing his thoughts, FRIDAY sent a gentle lap of code against him, holding a part of herself against him as he started to drift. He mumbled his plans for the morning to Rhodey, something about them must have been funny as he started to drift to the feel of Rhodey's chest shaking slightly.

But he had sunk too far into sleep that he couldn't really recall what he said, nor could he overly cared when he was here.

He was _safe_.

He was _warm_.

He was _loved._


	3. Chapter 3 - Facing The Dragon

**Facing The Dragon**

**Tony POV**

_**September 8th**_

_'You know, sun streaming through through the window right on your face is a really unpleasant way to wake up'_ Tony groggily mused whilst sending a thought towards the window to close the curtains and waving off FRIDAY about to start her good morning speil, all successfully done without opening his eyes.

Just as he started to slip into sleep again, the sun is back. "Urrrrrrggggg" he pulls a pillow across his face, shutting the curtains again. Wondering if there is a glitch in the system.

"Wake up Tones, it's 9am." An evil voice intones above him before pulling the pillow from his face.

"Why. Why do you do this to me?"

Rhodey, already dressed, the heathen. Looks unimpressed and confiscates the blanket as well as the pillow and as the curtains are no longer obeying him, obviously he has FRIDAY working for him.

"Tony. Do you not remember telling me that you wanted to get up early so you could run, then read the latest draft I brought home for you of the accords amendments whilst you get up your courage to call Pepper back as you have 7 voicemails you have been ignoring."

"Didn't I say that at 3am? When I was falling asleep, after our _fun time_ in the shower. Why on earth would you listen to me then?"

Tony reaches for another pillow only to discover Rhodey has literally stripped the bed bare. This causes him to open an eye and glare at the man sat comfortably in his wheelchair. Obviously enjoying this.

"I have Jules getting here in 20 minutes…"

Yup. That did it. Torture lady was coming. Tony sat up fast, shaking his head, waiting for Extremis to wake him up better. The odd feeling spreading through his mind and muscles making him alert and ready to go in a few seconds.

"Yeah, I'm up. Torture lady is coming. Why does your torture lady always want to do mean things to me?"

Tony squints, sensing foul play whilst shuffling of his bed, grabbing clothes he can comfortably run in whilst planning his route around the compound so people won't notice him outside and you know. Running. Ugh. They might think he'd turned into an exercise nut or something. Or Rogers. Double ugh.

Changing into his picks for today as Rhodey just rolls his eyes and makes his way into the bathroom. Loose joggers and a soft long-sleeved shirt with holes for his thumbs. In the immensely rare chance he is spotted his hand is sufficiently hidden for someone seeing him run.

"She's my physical therapist Tones, and a critical part of those bracers you totally aren't making for me."

"What, how do you… Um. What?

"Tony, do you really think I just do the exercises she gives me without question. I asked about her plan and its kind of obvious why you hired her. And you took her suggestion about running to help you manage your energy levels with Extremis, and it worked, so she can't be that bad to you."

Running his hand through his hair and joining Rhodey in the bathroom to wash his face and teeth.

"Yes, I'm doing the stupid running thing, and yes I'm not having weird Energy bursts manifesting in tech explosions anymore. Doesn't mean I _enjoy_ it."

He begrudgingly muttered, what was worse was that he was actually enjoying it. The sensory thrill was oddly addicting and he'd gone from grudgingly agreeing to try it twice a week to running every morning. He even left the lab to do it. What on earth was his life now.

"The running is one thing, she wants to add things to my occasional gym time. She wanted me to join a pilates class honeybear. Or Yoga. Aren't the hand to hand and combat classes enough?"

He shuddered dramatically but Rhodey was too busy laughing to reply. Clearly the idea of Tony in a yoga class was too much for him. Tony was only 40% nervous he'd like more of her decisions and he'd actually turn into Rogers or something.

"You enjoyed the Taekwondo she suggested too. Face it Tomes, Extremis has left you with more energy to burn than 60 hour lab sessions."

He shuddered internally at that thought whilst also lamenting the fact he was up, and awake, at 9am. Again. When the kids were not even here! Rhodey found this hilarious of course.

"Do I have time to help you set the living room up whilst I drink my coffee, or must I flee now?"

"You have 17 minutes until Jules arrives Boss. If you hop to it you should be safe!"

FRIDAY of course loved this new running and exercise business. Boss having healthy habits was something she wanted to cause more of. As such she often conspired with Rhodey, Vision and Peter to have him keep it up. Harley just found it hilarious and laughed at him.

"You set up, I'll make your coffee. That you don't even need anymore might I add."

Tony clutches his chest and glared at Rhodey for even suggesting such a thing. How dare he! Yes Extremis made the change from asleep to awake mostly seamless, but he still needed his coffee before doing things in the morning, and throughout the day, and night. He was awake but he still felt kind of groggy before his first cup, sure it was more mental now that physical, but still, coffee. Plus, he still kept unusual hours, coffee was still life. He sniffed, insulted, humphing before stomping into the living room. Ignoring Rhodey's laughter as he made his way to the kitchen.

He made quick work setting up his living room exactly how Rhodey and Jules wanted it. When he had started redesigning the private residence of the compound, less excessive and just more comfort for people. No more huge floors with every tiny detail specialised. All the rooms were mostly the same and blank so people could decorate their rooms however they please. It made him happy seeing people put effort into decorating their rooms. There were multiple people on each floor too, which he hoped was less isolating. Privately he hoped if people were personally invested in their rooms, the violence to his buildings would be less. He didn't really want to half destroy and rebuild the compound again. His not so healthy coping mechanisms when people destroy his buildings was usually to kill the person, unfortunately he couldn't do that this time. So method 2! Destroy and rebuild. Excessive? Maybe, but it made Vision very happy to help him smash the building and rebuild it.

His rooms are slightly different to the standard rooms, but not because of what people would think. And not just because he was avoiding common areas whilst he _rested_. He did visit occasionally after all, hopefully more soon. He liked getting to meet new people, but in small groups, so he didn't pass out, again, he was working on increasing his tolerance. The main reason for the increased size in the main floor in his apartment is that Rhodey started doing his PT in the occupational health rooms. With lots of health professionals and fancy equipment. And he'd been miserable. PT isn't exactly fun in itself, so Tony had worked to make it better for him. Which included having a pretty large living room with furniture that quickly rolled against walls and equipment wheeled out. There was also all the extra bedrooms, Laura was opposite him with an equally large accommodations because of the kids.

He always set up when Rhodey was at home and not doing his 'on the road' exercises, because the equipment was heavy and would take 3 people and way more time than what he could do in under 10 minutes. Also the large living room had doubled as a perfect location for movie nights for the 6 of them. Soon he was hoping they could invite more people, especially Laura and the kids. He loved movie nights after all.

There were of course the main movie nights in the compound for those on the avengers and young avengers roster when they were around. Tony had a standing invite from Carol, but he was still 'recovering' and he'd been in hiding. After last night and his decision to face the dragon, he figured Carol could be next and maybe he could start getting out more. The movie night was a little daunting yet though, dark room, even if he kept his glasses on, which would be very weird, if the room was dark enough, you could see a blue glow quite clearly. He drummed his fingers against his chest nervously .

Tony generally had two modes when it came to stuff like this. Hide and tell no one, or arrogant and tell the world. After Pep he should probably tell the current Avengers lineup.. Which was Carol, Rhodey, Vision, Nat, Hope with Strange coming in occasionally as a back bencher unless required. Bruciebear always had a place on hold for him if he ever came back. Then there were the defenders, Matt and Jessica living at the compound part time, Luke and Danny visited often. Tony still can't believe how fast Rhodey got everything working, as co-leader, mostly running management with Carol until he was cleared, the 2 of them moved mountains. They kept saying it wouldn't have been impossible without Tony's files, but he just collected information on everything… Hinky. Fixing clauses to the Accords had just made people more confident to come into the fold. Weirdly him being in a coma had made the public throw some sympathy to those willing to do that to themselves for them.

It didn't fix everything, too much fear had built up over the years thanks to the Avengers reckless actions and lack of accountability. People were used to Tony being around after, Tony taking on the fault, but everyone else just vanished. After the mess in multiple different countries headed by the personification of the American flag, barging into countries without invitation or permission, causing vast amounts of property damage and loss of life before just _disappearing_. People had started asking why he was cleaning up these messes, would the new Avengers be more of the same? But that's why he pays the big PR bucks. The amount of work he was doing post coma helped too. He needed to set up a press conference soon introducing everyone properly.

He'd met everyone since they came, in small amounts. Still confused him how people he'd barely met seemed oddly, and in Jessica's case, kind of viciously protective of him. He idly wondered if the PI had been checking into his past and figured of course she had. Matt had been equally as protective after he'd looked into everything Ultron related. It was kind of confusing Tony out how protective they were, Rhodey just said the ex-vengers set his standards too low. He thinks Rhodey might have something to do with it and the image of Rhodey giving the New Avengers a shovel talk was hilarious.

Everything was still pretty new and fresh, but from what he's heard from Rhodey and watching training sessions, because he's a constant worrier, things were coming together nicely. The people were actually getting to know each other. It didn't feel like a timebomb waiting to go off. They wanted to talk to him, not just for what he could do for them either. He'd frozen up the first time Carol had asked him what his hobbies where for bleeding hell's sake. Thankfully she hadn't said anything. Everyone texted him often too, in the group chats and separately too. He even got cards telling him to get better soon. He'd kept them with his file of drawings kids sent him. He was not a sap. Nope.

Shaking his head, Tony followed the smell of coffee to his little kitchenette. Humming as his picked up his mug, eyes fluttering shut and he took a few seconds just to enjoy his coffee, fingers drumming on his chest. Checking his messages and firing of replies to the several good morning texts. He sent the kids his plans to start telling people, Peter congratulated him, Harley told him it was about time and Tara sent lots of heart emojis.

**Rhodey POV**

"You'll be fine Tony, you've been cooped up long enough. Before you say anything, I know you occasionally go into the common areas, but I know for a fact Jessica wants you around more, Matt too. Hope will _not_ stop bugging me, Nat is still confused, which I am not enjoying at all."

Rhodey gave a sharp grin. Tony might have forgiven her, Rhodey didn't get how but knew it had something to do with his eye… but Tony didn't give him a play by play.

_*** Flashback ***_

_It was at the hospital, Tony had only been awake for 36 hours and they were already struggling to keep him in bed. Nat turning up was an annoying complication, Rhodey however had got her before she reached Tony's room thanks to FRIDAY. _

_"Why are you here Nat, shouldn't you be hiding with your little band of _rogues_?" _

_He was angry at all of them. So angry he felt it was burning him up sometimes. _

_Nat held herself still but she didn't look as perfectly poised as she used to. _

_"I came to see Tony." _

_Her voice was almost quiet and he wondered what had happened. Rhodey found it hard to sympathise with practically any of the former Avengers. If Bruce walked in that door now, no matter how much it would make his brothers heart soar, he'd be angry at him too. He left Tony high and dry, just like Nat did. Yeah she didn't hospitalise him, but if she hadn't have let them go maybe Tony wouldn't have nearly died. _

_"Rhodey, it's okay."_

_Tony had come up on both of them, making both of them startle a little, not expecting Tony to appear out of the shadows. He was thin, too thin, it would take time to put on what he lost in the coma and what Extremis burned, adapting to this new diet was hard for Tony, Rhodey knew that. His left arm stuffed in a pocket to hide what was missing. He was designing himself a new hand already, instead of resting. Hood up, glasses on. His clothes were hanging off him, he was wearing one of Rhodey's big, warm hoodies. He _ _noticed that his right hand was still gloved. He still couldn't get warm no matter how much they'd raised the temperature in his rooms, but he was getting better, his increasing control of Extremis was helping. He didn't need 4 layers of blankets to sleep anymore already, but Rhodey figured that was more stubbornness by how he shivered in the small naps he managed._

_Rhodey swore he saw pain flash across Nats face at the sight of Tony. The way she was looking at his chest made him wonder… _

_"What brings you here Nat, you have one chance, don't waste it trying to _manage_ me." _

_Tony was hopefully easing himself into Seeing a new person Rhodey hoped. Watching for signs he would pass out. It could overwhelm him as they'd found out with the nurses. _

_Rhodey wanted to complain about her even getting one chance. But Tony's head was tilted slightly and that's when he realised. He was Seeing in that was he couldn't explain, reading Nat beyond her masks. His glasses were wrapped around his head, the ones that wouldn't even let a glimmer of blue out of the sides instead of his aviators. Good choice with the Widow Rhodey mused, if anyone would notice a glimmer. It would be her. The excuse of 'It's FRIDAY' might work, but you never know. _

_"I.. Steve came back from Siberia, he told me… He told me something that didn't make sense. Especially not after that nurse tweeted about you.. And the article with the pictures… So I went to find out myself. To get all the data." _

_She was holding herself rigid as she fished a USB stick out of her pocket and put it on the table in front of Tony before stepping back a few steps. Obviously to give Tony space. _

_"I'm so sorry Tony, I watched it and then I wiped everything from that base, I made sure that no one else can go there and see what happened to y - you… I.. I know you have no reason to believe me, no reason to ever trus-" _

_Tony leaned forward as she started to apologise, scooping up the USB, his eyes on Nat the whole time. He knew Tony's gaze would be unfocused and he so wished he could see what Tony was Seeing from the woman with maybe more masks than Tony, but Tony was only very vague when talking about what he Saw with most people. Rhodey thought maybe he saw it as confidential even? Tony sucked in a breath when he touched the USB stick, Nat probably thought it was what she was saying. Rhodey knew that he'd just scanned the USB from touch. Tony's lips thinned as he stuffed it and the USB into his pocket before cutting Nat of mid sentence. Her eyes widening and Rhodey was sure she thought Tony was going to send her out, but he knew that set to his shoulders. Sighing internally, he knew what was coming next. At least he could take amusement at what was going to the Widows confusion. It was something. Not enough, but something. _

_"Nat, Natka. I Believe you." _

_Nat looked stunned, confused, trying to blank her face, head tilting, trying to work out exactly what had happened. She'd seemed ready to throw herself effectively at his mercy, she'd obviously expected anger, rage, jail even. The typical Tony Stark ego and flair she talked about so much. She and Tony had gotten closer these last few years, but to Rhodey's irritation, she rarely looked beyond the Tony Stark to the layers of just Tones beneath _

_With recent events, she was likely sure the Tony she knew would be spitting mad. Not quietly walking towards her. Seeing the Black Widow look the proverbial deer in the headlights was fun he had to admit. He hoped FRIDAY would be sending these pictures to his private collection. _

_"Come here" Tony pulled her into a one armed hug, she froze for a second before all but falling on him. Rhodey swore he saw her shoulders shake and wondered if she was crying. If it was _real_. He wondered if she watched the whole thing, he was pretty sure what was on that USB. Every pain staking minute. He wasn't sure he could have done it, even sped up. Seeing Tony just out of the suit was burned indelibly into his mind. Every detail still as vivid and as painful as it was nearly 2 weeks ago. It had haunted him for the 10 days Tony had been in the coma. Nat was holding onto him delicately, likely feeling how thin he currently was. Whilst he knew Extremis would bounce Tony back soon, she had no idea. If she's anything like him… She's probably wondering how he's even standing here with them. Rhodey being one of the very few who just how close he came to not. At least he shared that burden with someone now. It wasn't something he'd let the kids or Pepper in on. _

_Rhodey makes eye contact with her over his shoulder and sees a quiet determination in her he'd never seen before. As well as shock. She's obviously letting him see it in her face. Maybe… Maybe this time she'll guard his back? He knows Tony's words struck something inside her, but then since he woke up with his new way of Seeing, he had done it a few times now. To Nat being trusted was probably not an everyday experience and it probably meant more that he heard. Tony's new way of coming out with something, almost out of nowhere, never detailed enough to let other people know why, but it strikes something in them. He should know, he'd done it to him not long after he woke up. _

_Tony pulled back, looking at her with a level of solid focus that always made people uncomfortable when coming from Tony. _

_"Let's get to my lawyers and make you safe, right?" _

_"Okay" _

_She said back, voice oddly small and followed Tony with a level of trust he wouldn't of thought her capable of. Tony could be lying and leading her to the raft, to Ross, for all she knew. It could be a ploy. The fact she followed anyway, as if ready to take whatever he had planned for her made the anger in his mind ease up a little bit. But it wasn't gone. Tony might trust her, but he didn't. _

_***End Flashback***_

Rhodey shook himself free and reminded himself that he needed to do his usual check in with FRIDAY to see just what the little spider had been up to whilst he'd been at the UN.

"Then there is Strange... You know he's one step away from portaling something gross or terrifying into your bathroom if you keep avoiding him right? Plus, the TOTT File for the Dear General is stalled, I can't pull that off like you can.."

He nudged, hoping that would be the push to finally get this going.

Tony finished his coffee, running the tap to swill the mug before squeezing him on the shoulder.

"Good luck with the demon lady Honeybear, I'm going to run and try not to agonise over how Pepper and Happy are going to kill me"

He watches Tony go, knowing he's listening to music already whilst scanning the CCTV cameras to ensure he won't be seen on his run, it helps that he can move very fast when he puts his mind to it, although Rhodey didn't know how fast. Tony was still '_playing human_' around them and hiding his new '_upgrades_'. He'd use the shadows to blast past people silently without them knowing though, the kids and himself were trying to convince him to go all out on the track, so they could see. Something the Tony before Siberia wouldn't have considered hiding, but he also would have scoffed at the idea of running with inhuman levels of speed. He was still Tony though, and whilst he used his new abilities, he was still Tony enough to occasionally forget he has them. Like when racing the kids to the frosting bowl, he'll run fast and end up looking confused for a second when he was far ahead of the kids, before Rhodey has literally reminded him of his abilities, all the while Peter crowed from the ceiling, sticking the spoon in his mouth, nabbing the bowl as Tony looked confused about how he'd crossed the room. Only Tony would forget something like that.

Jules would be here in a minute and he finally decided on what he was going to do.

"Small Fry?"

"Yes Colonel?"

Rhodey bit his tongue for a second, as mad as he was, this was best for his brother and that is what mattered.

"You know the number Tony is using to speak to Dr Banner don't you?"

"Of course I do!"

"Well, you need to not tell your Da about this…"

He let the silence sit for a moment, knowing she wasn't comfortable with this, but if it was best for Tony, he knew she'd agree. Banner would be able to help Tony get a better handle on things, the emotional side where he was still struggling with control, he was sure of it. Sometimes the best you can do is get the best people for the job. Even if you're mad at them.

"Send him a message and then delete it so Tony can't find it. From me. Link the article with the picture that damned nurse got of Tony in the hospital"

He was still spitting mad at that guy. He'd gone to get something to eat and stepped away from Tony's bedside for 5 minutes and he'd used that to get a few pictures and sell the story of Tony bruised and battered in a coma. He picked the first article because the date on it, so Banner wouldn't panic that he was in a coma now. They were in contact, and Rhodes just knew he had just told Banner he was fine. That nothing was wrong. "Sign it from me. Say 'He needs you this time, he's always been there for you, wherever you go, now it's your turn."

"Sent Colonel… Do you… do you think Dr Banner will come back?"

"I hope so Small Fry, if he's half the man Tony thinks of, yeah, I think he will. Maybe a bit angry at you Da though."

**Tony POV **

He really hated to admit how much he loved running. It was warm out, the sun beating down on him, warming him as much as it could. He raised him temperature to enjoy the warmth that bit more as he kicked up his speed after stretching with a slower run.

Usually he kept to more… Normal speeds. Or not much above. But he was going to tell Pepper and Happy. So maybe he needed to sweat first, and it would take way, way too long unless he really, really pushed himself. Plus, he had to admit, grinning to himself, he kind of wanted to. His decision last night to be open, tell people and _accept himself _for Rhodey seemed to have had more of an affect on him than he'd imagined. Or would ever admit. He was suddenly itching to push his limits instead of trying to be normal. Steadily speeding up, sticking to the shadows around the trees, he kept speeding up until everything started to blur except the path in front of him that stood out with a laser focus.

Putting so much into his speed he couldn't keep monitoring all the cameras as usual, it was like turning up one area leveled others down to almost nothing. Not surprising, it wasn't like he'd really practiced keeping his technopath abilities running whilst focusing so much on his physical abilities. That would be for another time though, this time…

He just threw everything out for now however and Ran. His feet hitting the ground much louder than usual, stealth swapped for speed, now he was running with force, his feet not quite slamming down, but hitting hard enough to send pleasant shocks up his calves from his feet. He could even feel himself started to sweat. He trusted FRIDAY to tell him when he'd been going for an hour, and to protect him from prying eyes. She was very diligent when it came to protecting her Da.

….

Tony's music lowered slightly, enough for FRIDAYS voice to filter through.

_'Da, you want to head to your workshop soon, a few people are coming out to run in 15 minutes and you'll struggle to avoid being seen at your current speed.' _

"Will do baby girl"

He sent a brush of code to her, trying to fill it with all the fun, shock and surprise he'd felt running so fast.

Her code came back amused and happy, she loved it when he shared new things with her. He knew she'd been running her code through this for a while like she did with new experiences. Heck, he would be thinking about it for a while. Damned that Jules. He'd sworn blind he'd hate running. What enjoyment was there in pointlessly running round in circles! As he entered the door closest to his Workshop and slipped inside, skin almost on fire, slick with sweat, his clothes half soaked. His hair was utterly drenched and dripping, he was also absolutely famished. His muscles felt a pleasant ache and he swore it felt like Extremis was happy to have been let out of the box so to speak. He felt.. Steadier than he had in a long time, suddenly wondering why he waited so long to tell Pepper, before the run, a cold, sharp part of his mind was convinced Pepper would hate him for being lesser now, inhuman. That was silenced now and he realised Rhodey was right. Pep, she stuck with him through so much idiocy, their friendship had survived their quite disastrous relationship even. Happy to, he'd even stuck with him whilst he was an idiot in college let alive everything post Ironman.

Moving around the compound like a ghost, never bumping into or seeing anyone, his senses stretched through FRIDAY network. He went straight to the shower in his workshop, he'd been going to phone Pep and see about organising her coming over sometime next week, but now, post run, he decided to rip the bandage off.

_'Baby girl, can you send Pep a message, tell her I'm sorry I've been an idiot, but there's something I need to tell her, but I've been scared witless about it so I let it fester like a moron.' _

He then hummed out loud, "She'd like that bit." Chuckling to himself.

He stripped of and hopped into the smaller, but still lovely, shower and sighed as the spray came on at the right temperature as he stepped in. Whilst he hadn't been practicing the physical side of his new 'abilities', this he had down, unless_ his emotions got away from him._ Being linked to technology in a compound he'd linked practically everything to FRIDAY gave him an amusing level of control of the building. Well, next to his girl obviously. In other buildings it was limited, but anything he owned he wired almost everything to his AI. _'See if she'll come over soon? Thanks'. _

_'Sent Da, I'm sure she'll be here in no time. I really don't think shed stab you with her shoes'_

The amusement humming through at the idea had him wondering if that was actually true. Huffing out a laugh he enjoyed the bliss of the nice shower after running yourself stupid.

_'Oh and Fry, order me a few pizzas? My favourite with extra toppings. I'm starving, go for 5, might be some left for Pepper and Happy even… Maybe.'_

He got out of the shower feeling scrubbed new, fresh with the energy of 10 cups of coffee. Dressing in a pair of faded, soft jeans. Whilst expensive once, they were burnt, stained and torn now. He pulled on another of his new long sleeved shifts as he was going to have company. His thumbs slipping through the holes comfortably and then followed his nose to the stack of pizzas left just outside the lift. He grabbed them as FRIDAY informed him Pepper would be here in 20 minutes. Yikes, that was faster than he thought.

He steeled himself however, committed. Part of him sad he'd waited so long, but part of him happy she hadn't seen him just out of the coma. He'd been practically emaciated. The feeding tube in the coma couldn't keep up with his bodies new demands, especially as it was healing so much damage. Now he wasn't much different to what he'd been before, more toned maybe, but he'd always hidden how toned he was before. He was never going to be bulky, even with his enhancements but he'd definitely put on more muscle mass these past few weeks. The clothes he was wearing didn't show much, intentionally, it was a bit tight on his arms, and across his chest… But you couldn't make out every detail like Rogers too tight shirts.

He'd polished off 2 and a half of the pizzas whilst working and waiting for Pepper. Working on several projects at once was quite easy now he could partition his mind, a few for the Avengers, a couple of updates for SI and the new StarkPhone, reading Rhodey's notes that he'd brought back from the UN and starting on the next lot of write ups, Rhodey's braces whilst checking up on emails from the kids too, all of them coming home from their separate camps today, finally, well Peter and Harley in the same one despite different schools, Tara in one for kids her own age, he was not allowed to pick them up, apparently, it was embarrassing.

He'd been allowed to send cars as a compromise. The flashier the better according to Harley, Peter disagreed. Such things they'd get away with when he was 'recovering', it was nice to give them an idea that he wouldn't show up at their schools, it would make it all the more fun when he did! It had been about few months since Harley and Tara had turned up, discovering their mother had passed away and they'd bounced around until things were finalised and he'd missed it all because of this stupid drama and being in a stupid coma, and then, he'd suddenly discovered he'd been named as a guardian when he'd not long been awake.

He'd freaked. He'd been close with the family, but he'd been more of the 'eccentric overworked uncle' than anything else, not the kind you leave guardianship of your kids too, but she'd left him a letter that she trusted him in this. That he'd mostly kept his visits a secret from anyone bar Rhodes made the, _'I have kids now?'_ conversations weird, but as most people in his life were also quite new, so Harley and Tara had been there as if they'd always been like that, their strength baffled him. Before he would have freaked, now he'd freaked even more because of his 'changes'. He'd been trying to track down literally any other potential family when Harley had found out and glared at him. Told him he couldn't get rid of them that easily. That had been a punch to the solar plexus.

He practically ran and grabbed them both, slightly manic and not long woken up, and panicking, more stumbling really than running. Saying he didn't want to get rid of them, explained he was the issue.. He was messed up. At their dubious looks he'd told them to brace themselves and just showed them, probably not the best plan of action. They looked at his hand, or rather lack off, his eyes, and shrugged in a very teenage and pre-teen way and told him that they accept him in no uncertain terms liked he'd accepted them. That level of conviction threw him.

From then however he'd never considered another person taking them, (he'd needed help in those days he was trapped at the hospital, but thankfully he'd been released fairly fast.) Harley had then asked if his legs were injured and at his no, kicked him in the shin. Hard. He'd fight tooth and nail for them now, he was still terrified he'd be an awful parent, given his experiences. But he was getting papers to make the adoption official at their request '_read - demand_' too, apparently they'd been planning this with their mother a while as she'd known she was dying, they decided to avoid telling him because they knew he'd freak. They'd kind of cannon balled into his life when he was at his worst and he couldn't be happier, they'd given him a steadfast reason to fight off the lasting effects of his Extremis coma, to get healthy, for them. Thankfully this camp would end soon. He wanted his kids back.

He was just starting Pizza number 4 when he heard the lift doors open. With his right hand he automatically reached out to snag a pair of silver aviators and slid them on his face whilst his left hand slid under his shirt. Kicking 3 of the pizza boxes out of sight under his desk. When Pepper came into view he was reading the hologram in front of him whilst eating. Looking as relaxed as possible. Utterly not feeling it.

He turned to Pep and Happy, and damned was he happy he had the glasses, on as it dulled the affect a bit because holy crapola. So much vibrant colors. The whole spectrum of yellow to orange, fluttered and surged around her like a whirlwind in places and others drifting like a calm, balmy summers eve. They intersected and didn't seem bothered by the others. Currents running against each other. Bright, sunshine yellows of decisive actions, to vibrating oranges of friendship, family and loyalty wrapped up together. Creating a mix in between of authority, confidence and a pure happiness that made him tear up. It was so overwhelming his mouth had been gaped open, head tilted to one side. It was jumping at his senses, he could feel it so much it made him feel like he was vibrating almost that he nearly missed the wisps of colour whipping through the same red he saw on Rhodey is there, he could feel it pulled from him. Just like Rhodey. The thrumming deep violet like a clock gong he can see connected to Happy after the brightness settled. Peppers Sunshine however just dominated the room and he couldn't get a read on Happy yet without a lot of focus. Which he needed all of just to stop gaping.

Right now he had to really focus on pulling his vision back, he was just so open to Pepper it had swept him up in her wind. Usually meeting people wasn't this overwhelming. It took another 30 seconds of rapid blinking before he brought himself back and he could finally see a very concerned Pepper looking at him very critically. He didn't know what had been said but he had a feeling they'd been talking whilst he did his goldfish impression.

"Tony, what's wrong, you just blanked put there and I haven't seen you in weeks..!" her voice cracked a little. "The last time I saw you was in a coma, back from Gods only know where when you were meant to be safe!"

"I know Pep, I've been a sucky friend, but things have been complicated and I didn't know how to tell you without making you hate me. You too Happy. Both of you sit, help yourself to pizza."

"Oh Tony, you should know by now, you can't scare us off"

Pepper nodded along with Happy. Nervous and obviously wanting to know just what Tony was talking about, but patient. Peppers almost endless patience was always a shock. He could see that they'd wait on him, even though they were desperate to know what was going on.

"Just wait until you, well. See."

He huffed at himself, chuckling, whilst rubbing his hand over his goatee, which brought Peppers attention to his glasses. Causing her to frown at him.

"This is part of it." He gestured at the glasses. That made her frown more, Tony didn't wear glasses in the workshop, or with friends, Pepper paled and Tony knew she was thinking back to his eyes bandaged over in the hospital so he decided to start talking fast before she spiralled down into thinking the worst.

"I went after.. Rogers and Barnes on that day. Wilson gave me the location as long as I didn't lead Ross to them, so I turned off location tracking in the suit and purged FRIDAY'S memory. All to sort out 5 other winter soldiers.. But they were already dead, they were just the lure, we were the fish. Zenmo had quite a different endgame, he wanted to entirely destroy the Avengers. The stress fracture was, well, me."

"Oh Tony, you gave them so much, I don't know everything that happened, but it's you can't be entirely at fault for breaking up the Avengers, I think it was broken before the Civil War.."

"Well, I'm not innocent, but I'd say it was Rogers lies that did it in the end."

From then he decided that these two, like Rhodey and Vis, they got the full story. Not the carefully edited versions he'd been telling others. He included the video of his parents for one. Peppers face was a Thunderstorm or anger. Happy was patient and strength reaching out to him as he shuddered to the end of the fight. Going quiet as he let it occur to them that he was there, no tracking, with his suit damaged with just the Siberian cold as Rogers just… Left.

"Tony. How long?" Pepper demanded.

Tony skittered away from that thought with such a visible flinch and shudder that she didn't ask again. She would be asking Rhodey however, he could see it, but Rhodey didn't know either, he had an idea, but he'd been out of it when Tony had left for the fight and Tony had done his best to obscure details. Only Nat and himself knew the exact amount of hours.

"That's not the point really… I wasn't doing well when they got me to the hospital. I was falling further into the coma, they were worried I'd never wake up. So they tried the SuppedDown Extremis, and the Cradle. But nothing worked."

Pepper and Happy had paled.

"Tony you look, great even. So what changed?"

"I had a... different version of Extremis I'd been playing with. I never planned to use it or let anyone use it really. It was my, 'I'm Bored' project. More of a thought experiment. But I stick with Rhodey's decisions. He doesn't need more guilt."

"So you deactivated it when you were healed…?"

Pepper says hopefully, even though Tony could See she doesn't believe that.

"Na Pep, there is no neutralising this one."

Tony reached put with his right hand and she snagged his hands immediately, clutching hard and Tony adds his left. Pepper freezes immediately looking down. Catching his left hand. He lets it go limp in her hands as her shaking hands release the hold over his thumb. Holding her breath as she pushed it further up. He can see she's scared of how far up this goes but knows she'll get there before he says anything. She pushed the sleeve to his elbow, revealing the joint in the middle of his forearm. She skimmed her fingers over the scars at the joint. Tony idly marvelling at the sensation change from his skin to feedback from the metal.

"Oh Tony. I'm so sorry."

"Its okay Pep, it's pretty much as good as my flesh hand, dexterity wise anyway."

He smiled as much as possible, but his voice brought her eyes back to his face, staring resolutely at his glasses, remembering the hospital again, he didn't see the pictures in people's heads, not like Wanda, but he tended to get a sense occasionally of what people were focusing on. Pepper and Rhodey were a lot easier to get a read on, The red for him stilled when she thought of him in hospital, yellows and oranges wrapping around it protectively.

"Tony, when I saw you in the hospital, you had covers over both your eyes, tell me you aren't blind."

"I'm not blind, but one of my eyes was damaged beyond even Extremis ability to heal, so it did something… Else."

Pepper reached up to remove his glasses, hands shaking, and he closed his eyes automatically. She huffed at him, he smiled took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

Happy breathed in a short, sharp breath and blue surged around him with his need to protect lashing out and a dull blue-gray of feeling as if he failed.

"No Happy, you couldn't protect me from this, no one could, we were careening towards this for a while."

Happy blinks, startled, Tony isn't exactly the most… Introspective of people, especially of their feelings, and stuff like that he'd usually miss until it was too late. Pepper tilted her head, focusing on that blue light, a bright vibrant pink shot out around her. That sharp perception that made her such an amazing PA and an even better CEO.

"Yes, you're right, the blue eye, I don't see… Normally out of it. Got the right one for that. The left I see.. More".

Pepper breathed out, Happy sat stunned.

"I'm… I'm still me guys."

"Of course you are Tony. Been getting used to these new…" Pepper waved her hands with a wishy-washy way. Not wanting to say the word _abilities_ either it seemed. Her face a little like she ate a particularly sour sweet. "Developments you come back with, at least I don't have to stick my hand in your chest this time." Happy snorted at that, Tony smiled

"Yeah, I don't like using the word '_Abilities_' either." He included the air quotation marks and a scowl of his own. "But annoyingly, it's the best word for them. Rhodey says '_Upgrades_' but that was equally as weird."

He huffed out a laugh. They spend the next hour catching up, Tony showing of some of his tech abilities that aren't too freaky. Like turning the lights on and off and manipulating the holo screens. Even told Pepper how beautiful her colours were, how strong and vibrant Happy was. Everyone goes away happier, with promises not to let the distance spread again.

They know that there are more quirks of Extremis Tony isn't telling them yet. Tony knows they know. But they all let it go for now, he'd opened up a lot and all of them were left a little raw and dizzy. Tony smiles as he watched Peppers hand catch Happy's as they enter the lift. Waiting for the surge of jealousy and is pleasantly happy to not feel it. Just warmth again. Happy his friends found comfort together. The warmth makes him smile, it's a feeling he thought he'd lost in Siberia, and feeling it for two people who have held steadfast through the decades? That's just awesome.

He'd left stuff out, he'd kept the makeup on, but he felt good about this. Small steps and all that jazz. So he span towards the holograms, not needing to use his hands anymore, but enjoying the actions anyway. His hands move much faster now anyway and separately. He throws himself into work, with several projects in his mind, and manipulating one from each hand, he relaxes and loses himself to the quiet haze of work. He was building more nano-tech, for uses other than the suit, thinking he had enough vibranium left over from building his hand to fill the hive he built into an upgraded arc reactor, and it had to go somewhere after all, plus with his uplink to tech as it was, he was looking forward to this.

…

After several hours of working Tony's mind kept wandering to the box in the corner of his shop. The box that contained the Winter Soldier's arm. He'd stored it and resolutely ignored it when he was building his own hand, Shuri had helped him out, especially with the nerves even though she thought he was talking about ideas for Barnes arm and new med-tech for SI, he'd told her it was a side project got fun whilst he was healing. He wasn't sure if she believed him, but she'd gone with it. He'd used the vibranium that had been a lovely get well gift from the teen when they'd been in contact for a few weeks after his coma. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but the fact he'd told her that her brother left him to die when he'd opened up a little had distressed her greatly. Her distress was why he'd not said more, no matter how bad his day was, he wasn't going to dump that on her doorstep.

He'd wanted his arm to be 100% from his mind(and Shuri) and not influenced by the thing that killed his mother. Now though, it was bugging him. He wanted to take it apart. Shrugging he decided now was better than never, walking to the box whilst running a sort of the SHYDRA files for anything relating to the arm and Barnes. Putting all the files in a folder and letting FRIDAY sort them for him.

Placing the horrendously heavy, chunk of metal on his desk with a loud thunk. Grimacing that he could see rust even from here. He saw the maintenance logs but wondered what maintenance had actually been done. He started reading how the arm was developed and installed. He was half way through when he went pale. By the end of that file he was bent over the toilet. Losing what was still in his stomach. Extremis struggling to straighten out his vitals but flailing slightly with his emotions. He'd read some of Barnes files since he woke up, trying to find out more, trying to find why his parents, the torture, the brainwashing, he'd forced himself to read it all in some weird punishment for attacking the guy whilst still wanting to punch him. In his mind, Barnes was still in the 'He killed my mother' box, but also into the 'Severe Guilt' box too. It was uncomfortable and confusing. Why couldn't he just hate the man! He knew he was the weapon however, not the person who pulled the trigger. Logic vs Emotional. It was tearing up his brain.

The arm however, it was a whole extra level of torture. It didn't have to hurt, the files stated that clearly and having a metal limb himself, he knew that. No, they'd just intentionally made it so it was constantly agonising as a tactic to keep the Winter Soldier as the Asset, to keep him in line. You'd think having your vest weapon in agony would be ridiculous, but apparently the serum was constantly trying to heal Barnes brain of the brainwashing. The chair was 1 half of control, the arm was the other. Maintenance on the arm was also basically maintenance torture. Tony was pale, shaking slightly and staring at the arm in horror. Barnes might not have been able to feel with the arm… but he had felt it get blasted off. He knew too, it was still painful even without this part. The socket was just as messed up.

Great, more guilt. Guilt is like sand he thinks. Like when you go to the beach and then there's sand everywhere for weeks. He helped torture a person who had been tortured for the better part of the century. He clenched his hands, as much as he wanted to blame himself for this, he had to place a lot of blame at Roger's feet. If he'd been told about his parents 2 years ago. By his friend. In a safe place. Would he have fought Barnes when he saw him? Tony liked to think no. As much as Roger's thought, Tony hadn't been trying to kill him in the bunker. He'd hit Rogers first, open handed too. He'd just needed someone else to hurt. Not very mature maybe. He needed to do… Something. He couldn't forgive and forget, it wasn't in his nature to discover information like that and go '_OK, cool_.' But maybe he could do something for the man in pain he'd heaped even more pain on.

He rolled across workshop to where the BARF headset is set up. Picking it up and twiddling it in his hands. Maybe he could do something to get rid of this feeling. He didn't like feeling guilt towards Barnes. He wanted to feel angry, to rage. Looking at the glasses in his hand and all he felt was that he was drowning in guilt.

"FRIDAY, put a call through to T'Challa, don't bother pretending we don't know his direct number… hopefully he won't send us to voicemail.."

He muses idly, setting down the BARF set, then spinning in his chair. Slipping on his sunglasses back on so he could have a video call.

"We could just put the call through anyway? Even if he does Boss."

"Devious my girl, go on, have fun."

Tony hums to himself, waiting at the screen, mildly amused when a slightly baffled picture of T'Challa pops up.

"Hey there King Kitty"

"Dr Stark… Uh.. Hi?"

Starks grin turn sharp and wolfish for a second, a flash of teeth, no point playing coy when you had just overridden someone trying to sending you to voicemail after all.

Not that he disliked the King, he'd actually got on pretty well with him all things considered. But that doesn't change the fact he's housing Rogers. It didn't change the fact he had left him with them. It didn't change the fact that he had left him to rot in an icy coffin. That he'd left him to die. If he hadn't, he might even feel bad for him. (He does feel bad for Shuri though, having his ex teammates around has been seriously annoying her. Rogers especially after Barnes went into Cryo. Apparently he turns up daily to demand why she hasn't come up with a way to fix Barnes brain yet. Because in Rogers world, if you were a genius you obviously knew everything, even things outside of your remit.)

"Have you solved the problem with the command words yet?"

T'Challa's face locks down into a mask, almost imperceptible. But his left eye almost sees it in slow motion, the confusion, panic and a touch of fear. He can't see colours over video calls, but he sees more details that he would have when he was more human. Apparently obviously implying T'Challa is hiding a bunch of very wanted international fugitives when he's at a vulnerable time for his people makes the man nervous.

"Babysitting duty sucks doesn't it Felix?"

Tony grins again, all teeth and sharpness. Nothing like when they'd met before. This is the face he wears when talking to business people he hated and wanted to destroy, or when he was in the shark infested waters of socialites and galas.

"But that's not why I'm calling Your Royal Kittiness. I have something that could help with that problem I'm assuming you have in the freezer?"

T'Challa sighs, Rubbing his hand down his face in a gesture he finds all to familiar. He'd been dealing with them for years, he knew just how much of a headache the rogues could be. (Or he was annoyed at the cat names, either or.) You'd think it would kill them to learn even a tiny bit of politics and public relations along with reasonable demands.

"Some help on that matter would be appreciated Dr Stark."

T'Challa offered a tentative smile at Tony. Tony just remembered creeping ice. His left hand clenching at the memories.

"Hmm, I'm sensing a touch of buyers remorse there Grumpy Cat! Well, no take backsies. But I might send something your way."

He spun in the stool a few times, scratching his chin in thought.

"I'm sure Shuri will like some presents."

This time he does smile, much warmer than the sharp, wolf smiles T'Challa had been getting. Causing the young Kings brows to knit in confusion, making Tony wonder just what Rogers had told the King about the condition he'd been left in. No matter, he had no plans to enlighten the man anytime soon, he wanted to hold onto some anger, somewhere. He felt the desperate need to as holding onto it for Barnes was getting increasingly difficult. He was trying, sending him his new tech wasn't a kindness really. It was just good planning. The world was safer if he couldn't be triggered after all. Yup, that was just it.

He shakes his thoughts away as T'Challa stares at him in confusion and waves at the young King. Not giving him a chance to say anything else as FRIDAY cuts the call on a very startled T'Challa, mouth open, about to say something, who likely just realised a few things.

Tony knew where they were, obviously had for a while. Knew about Barnes condition. That he knows enough about their location to apparently send parcels. Tony, a man of no small political influences, especially with the Accords Council knew he was housing international fugitives. All on top of the fact that Tony, despite the fact no one had integrated the coding of Wakanda and the rest of the world yet, had enough control to force a call through on their system. All highly amusing things for Tony, and probably Shuri, but likely a little nerve racking for T'Challa. He fires of a text of what he just did including the video file of the call, hoping she'd find it amusing along with a data packet with a rough outline on BARF.

Tony however just finds it all so hilarious, it's just funny that the Rogues are likely driving the young King up the wall instead of him. He wonders what they're demanding.. He'd have to ask Shuri for some surveillance footage he thinks. At that idea he finds himself laughing. Really, truly laughing like he hasn't in… So long. It sounds strange at first, like breaking glass or nails on the chalkboard to him. It's been a while since he has done more than huff in amusement. As he carries on however it starts to sound better, maybe a touch hysterical, but better.

Peter walks into the workshop a little slowly, as Tony is on his way to manic laughter by now and the young boy had just gotten back from grudgingly being gone for so long, coming straight to the compound for the weekend before back home on Monday. Watching as Tony topples of the stool, trying to breathe, and stop laughing, and failing miserably. That jerks Peter into action.

"Mr Stark! What's happened?!"

Harley strolls in a few minutes later, chucking his backpack at his desk in the workshop before strolling casually over the hysterically laughing Tony and Peter, who was at this point flitting around a gasping Tony, which really wasn't helping Tony stop laughing and was just making it worse. The laughter becoming almost quiet as he tries to stop and breathe, tears streaming down his face.

"What did you do?"

Harley demands as Peter splutters.

"You went and broke my mechanic is what you did!"

"It wasn't me! I just came in and he just fell off of his stool, cackling, and I'm getting worried he'll stop breathing!"

Peters voice gets progressively higher pitch as he fuses over the older man on the floor. Unfortunately their conversation is making it worse, it's like years of laughter is coming out and he can't stop.

Harley sighs, the dramatic, world weary sigh that only teenagers can harness, and pokes Tony with his foot a few times. At least that wasn't less helpful that Peters panicked flitting like a hummingbird.

It took him a good 10 minutes to calm down. Something inside him… Not relaxed, it didn't leave… but the ice, snow and the cold that had settled into his bones, that whipped through his mind and occasionally whited out his vision… just maybe it thawed a bit and made room for something truly warm. By the time Tara comes running in, the seven year old flings herself on top of Tony, his arms catching her easily, he's just smiling like an idiot when the two teenagers sit down either side of him. He Sees all three of their colours flowing around them all and sighs, content, happy and tells then how King Kitty is stuck babysitting as long as they promise not to tell Uncle Rhodey.

…

After a lot of chatting and catching up, mostly about their camps and what he'd done when they were gone, as if they hadn't been in daily contact the whole time. He doesn't mention the Rogues often, Harleys face darkens, Peters fills with anger and concern. But it's Tara's fear and her clutching his chest that little tighter that makes him rage at them. She didn't deserve the memory of him, weakened, battered in the hospital. He tries to show her everyday how alive he is. That he won't leave her too. He sends them up to wash and get ready for dinner whilst putting in a huge order for his favourite Italian place. Between his and Peters metabolism, plus maybe Carol was coming again tonight, he also lost half his lunch earlier, they tend to eat a lot. Harley also eats a lot, but a normal teenager amount. At first Tony, and even Peter had tried eating normally around others, but Harley had kicked both of them in the shins. It was his go to for when his family were idiots it seems.

Putting together his care package to Wakanda quickly before he gets ready to join them, sending Rhodey a text that he was coming and getting one back that Carol was coming. Oh, well maybe he could tell her after dinner whilst she is wondering why he ate so much. He includes everything for BARF, data and equipment, including data of its use on himself, he trusts Shuri with the information. He doesn't include the memory videos however, but the file names are there and data to help her navigate the algorithms, idly knowing the basic settings won't work for Barnes but they'll cross that bridge later. He tosses in a pink panther consolation card he printed off to King Kitty, with 'Don't give in to all of their demands or they'll just want more. I spoiled them and as thanks they gave me Siberia. - T.'

He included some information on the next round of accords amendments as a peace offering for T'Challa, and maybe as an olive branch for collaboration on them. Not friendship yet, maybe he could work to forgive them man. It was easier to hold onto the hate from here, he wondered if Seeing the man would scupper that like it had with Natka.

Some candy they'd made recently was added for Shuri, a few other tasty things too. A little post it note saying 'Shuri is Awesome' with little cat doodles around it. He dithered back and forth but ended up including a USB with all the horrifying, collated information on Barnes arm that he'd gone through. Maybe she can do something for him. Or not. He even included updated information he'd gathered since using his hand, but edited it to sound like an experiment rather than something attached to his body. The only pictures he included was from before he'd attached it and anything about feeling was readings he'd taken from his computer. She was a genius however, so he goes through it 10 times to make sure she won't click.

Frowning and considering taking it out entirely, but maybe they can help Barnes and it will get rid of this feeling in his mind. Because he knows now, with an assurity of someone who had suffered chronic pain for years post Afghanistan, that Barnes was in constant pain. Even if he didn't tell anyone. Tony didn't write that in so many words, that wasn't his place and it would sound kind of weird. He just hoped that they could work it out from the file he included. He figured this was worth Shuri's suspicion on the matter, comparing the Hydra notes on the arm to his were night and day. He adds a few other things he'd been collecting for the teen, kitty mugs, some amusing t-shirts, a pretty dress he thought she'd like that Peter had found. Heck he was getting used to having kids around. Which apparently upped his need to find stuff and make stuff that they'd like. Shuri had found herself in his mind with the other 3. Using multiple post it note to say what was whose and what was in the usbs.

He wasn't just throwing money at them like some people think, some stuff was very cheap, but he saw it and thought of them, so he got it. Giving people stuff they liked was basically a hobby that he planned for constantly. He added the two plush black panthers, King Kitty could have one too. He sealed the box up and sorted for a stealth drone to deliver it to the Palace door step. Adding a sign saying 'I'm not a bomb. I'm presents. -T'.

Finally, he stood up, ready head upstairs and a message from Bruce came in, a huge grin split across his face like it did everytime his Science Bro contacted him. He was so far out that he would occasionally go days with no contract, even with the device Tony gave him that worked where there was little to no connection and it was powered by a mini arc reactor, even though he hadn't told Bruce that. The message this time was short and sweet, nothing like Bruce's long, letter styles messages-

"YOU WERE IN A FUCKING COMA?!"

Tony sat down, and conked his head on the desk.

"Ow. Great, anything else to make today more painful?"

"Uh, Funny you say that Boss, but I'm getting information in that's brought the FDS File up, Level 9 warning on file - ."

Tony lifted his head, only to drop it again on the table.

"Ow."


	4. Chapter 4 - Family

**That's What Family is For**

**Tony POV**

_**September 8th**_

Rubbing his forehead he considers how best to handle this latest move from Ross. He should have known something was up, he'd stopped haranguing him and calling about the rogues about a week ago. Tony had foolishly hoped that this meant the vile sludge monster that was Thunderbolt had grown up and moved on. That would have been a miracle. Luckily the FDS program ran continuously, it was something he'd put into practice after Ultron after meeting the kids, adding people to it as they met others. After the debacle with the raft he'd updated it to include Lang.

Family Defence Sentinel was a constantly running file with its own AI, CERBERUS, so it could be focused on the family members. The guardian to the gates of their own personal hells - their loved ones ending up hurt from their choices, something he'd learnt when Happy had been blown up, when Pepper had been injected and finally when Rhodey fell, all his fault.

CERBERUS spoke to FRIDAY often however, and he tended to carry on speaking to Laura and the kids after they'd been moved into the compound. Which hadn't been part of his core programming, but FRIDAY seemed to have imparted her over protective ways to him. He was a fast learner, he was ridiculously proud of his new son.

Tony was happy to see that Ross hadn't sent anyone to Peggy and Jim's current location yet, he'd just triggered certain parameters that he was planning to. Tony had moved them twice now and they'd agreed with him that if Ross found them again, Jim would take a job at the compound and they'd move in. Tony had saved a suit next to Laura's hoping that Cassie, Lila and Tara would potentially get on, being near the same age. The school he had them all enrolled in was the kind of school diplomats and people with dangerous enemies sent their kids to. Laura had been unsure at first because of the expenses, but after Ross came after them because of Clint she cared more about their safety. She'd decided to find ways of paying Tony back, even though he told her she didn't need to.

He remembered being kidnapped enough when he was younger that he was going to ensure that wouldn't happen to any of these kids. Peter was the only outlier, refusing to leave his school as there was 'no need' as just a SI Intern. But a few cheques here and there and Tony had successfully linked the schools, (and a few others so Peter wouldn't think it was him and just a happy coincidence, ha) so Harley and Peter got to occasionally see each other for events.

"FRIDAY, contact Carol and tell her that extraction protocols are now active for , we'll move them as soon as a jet can touch down. Tell Carol to maybe ask Laura if she's willing to run point? Might make them more comfortable."

"Sure thing Boss!"

Tony trailed off, scratching his beard before firing off an email to Maria Hill, who he'd put in charge of his growing division of EX-SHIELD agents (he really needed a better name for them now, he'd integrated them with the Avengers a lot more now a Rogers didn't just have them playing clean up since he'd been slowly moving them into the compound.) They were steadily coming together to be a real force that helped the avengers, better than when SHIELD had been around even, especially as it was less shadowy and secret plots these days and the Avengers did more than just world-ending events. Ah, the joys of making everything shiny and official.

So paperwork, paperwork everywhere. Maria would organise a team to pack up their belongings posing as a delivery firm but able to take on threats if need me. They were getting very good at faking being movers with no knowledge of what was happening because of Ross. He still had the footage on his private server of Ross yelling at a bored looking mover when they emptied the farm.

"CERBERUS, You can contact Maggie and Jim in advance, tell them we're running Extraction1 and keep them updated as they go. Don't panic them, tell them Ross is getting close, but isn't on their doorstep. But we want them out ASAP, their stuff is secondary as we discussed."

"On it Chief."

Tony smiled as his AIs worked together to bring the family in with his team. It was hard for him to not be the one charging off, leading the extraction. But this was why he had people now, to share the load. Plus if he passed out seeing the family for the first time in person that wouldn't be helpful. It would put them at risk if the extraction team had to split protection duty and taking double would draw too much attention.

With that sorted out, he decided to head up for dinner with his family. Carol was over tonight so he could bare his soul again. Yay. Even after telling Pepper and Happy, he didn't relish telling other people. It was hard to just explain part of the story without the painful, squishy parts. He liked the way Carol looked at him now. He didn't want that to change. Also he was planning just what to tell Bruce. How Bruce had found out about the coma in the first place, without access to the Internet, at least as far as he knew, he had no clue.

Strolling into the lift to take him out of the basement levels and towards the short walk to the West Wing he loaded up the chat box and just squinted at it. Glasses in place he decided to take a more circuitous route over to the residential sector. Wave to a few people, let them know he was getting out more. Hoping that it would give him some inspiration for how to explain the '_Civil War_' to his ScienceBro.

'_Bruce, I didn't want to concern you! By the time I could message you I was healing. We just had a few disagreements within the Avengers. Fights were had, punches thrown, 117 countries got involved. It's a long, convoluted story. But everything is great now I'm healthier than ever, nothing to worry your head about!'_

Squinting at the message, _that'll do_, he sent it. He didn't expect anything back right away, hopefully, even with the tech he'd sent him, Bruce still would occasionally go dark for days at a time and messages take a while to get through and the symbol that he was out of range was active, so the man must be on the move somewhere, must be how he came across news of his coma. Odd that he just discovered that and now the rest of the Avengers family drama. '_Welp, thank Thor for small mercies I suppose_.' Explaining Ross was not something he wanted to do yet. It was a wholly inadequate explanation, but he really didn't know how to get into it like this. Sighing, he hoped that Bruce wasn't too mad at him. His worry however was pushed back when a tiny person slammed into his legs, making him rock slightly on the spot.

"You're late!"

"I'm sorry, I was sorting out Maggie and Jim. They'll be coming here soon."

"Cassie too?!"

"Yes, Cassie too."

"Then you are forgiven"

The little blonde 7-year old sniffed, before grabbing his hand and dragging him into the apartment and towards the dinner table that was already set up. Which he remembered was his job today, which meant he was going to be on dishes later instead likely. Rhodey and Peter were already sat at the table, deep in conversation, Harley was in the kitchen talking to Carol who was dishing up something that smelt so good it took all of his willpower not to go over and steal something. He knew that Carol wielded a mean spatula however, and would thwack him on the forehead for it. And chase him with said spatula. He sat himself down next to Peter who jumped, for a boy with heightened senses, Tony found it easy and quite fun to sneak up on him, he called it '_training_'. Tara diverted to the kitchen seeing Tony seated and went to check on Carol. She'd decided early on she was the manager of the house as adults were useless, apparently.

"Mr Stark!" Peter all but squeaked at him, bouncing up and down in his seat excitedly.

"Hey Underoos."

"Give me your hand!"

"Um, okay?" Tony offered his hand over tentatively, wondering what he was getting himself into.

"Not that one! The '_other_' one"

Oh, that made more sense, Tony took his hand out of his pocket.

"I figured you'd actually like to use 2 hands to eat with Carol here so I brought the first prototype up!"

Peter was practically vibrating in excitement, which made Tony grin. Harley had wandered over at Peters squeal and Rhodey leaned over, suddenly very interested to see. Whilst Peter talked a lot about the sleeve, he didn't show anyone, wanting it to be a surprise. Tony was baffled when Peter pulled out a small red disk from a back box and affixed it to the back of his metal hand. Tony tilted his head and watched and Peter tapped out O-P-E-N in morse code. Then watched fascinated as the red turned the same olive complexion as his hand and quickly spread out. He pulled his sleeve up to watch in fascination as his fingers and wrist changed too. It stopped at the metal, leaving just the ring of scars showing.

"This one only works on metal, me and Dr Cho are working on it so it can extend further and fully cover the scars too!"

Peter whispered as Carol was now bringing food towards the table.

Tony was looking at his hand in utter amazement. It didn't look like his old hand, no scars and callous free, no fingerprints either, but it was very cool and if Pete got this working on skin comfortably, they could make awesome gloves that didn't restrict as much. Tony felt almost like he'd been punched with emotions all of a sudden and grabbed Peter into a hug so he didn't cry at him or something.

"This is amazing Pete, thank you for making this for me."

Peter was slightly overwhelmed by the sudden hug and the way Tony's voice had deepened with emotion. He pulled back and smiled at the kid who had flushed bright red. Carol was watching the interaction with a smile and a question in her eyes, luckily Rhodey distracted her asking for updates on the current extraction mission that Laura was heading.

Tony tugged his sleeve down to cover the scars but couldn't stop looking at his hands that now matched again. Weirdly, he noted, that part of him missed the black matte colour of his metal hand, realising he had gotten more used to it that he'd thought but was happy he didn't have to make up an awkward excuse to Carol about eating one handed. It was awkward with some foods, this would be a nightmare and the '_I burnt my hand_' excuse was getting tired.

After losing the contents of his stomach in the lab earlier, Tony was starving. Any residual sickness at the thought of the files overridden by his now overactive metabolism. He decided that as he was planning on having a discussion with Carol later that he didn't have to eat a _normal amount_ and then eat again when she left like he had last time(Or awkwardly duck into the fridge and scarf down a block of cheese when she wasn't looking, again).

It had been awkward enough saying he'd burnt his left hand on a blow torch the first time because it was the only thing he could think of when she noticed him using one hand. Carol however surprised him by only raising an eyebrow when Tony went back for a very large portion of thirds along with Peter, as everyone else chatted at the table, happy and full. '_Maybe people don't notice these things as much as I thought_?' He and Peter did not turn it into a competition on who could finish the 3rd plate. Nope, that would be juvenile. He won.

Full, and very happy with himself he flopped onto the sofa as the kids dashed off to the games room, not understanding how they could move so fast after eating so much. They yelled about meeting up with Lilah and Cooper before bolting, likely to discuss their plans to welcome Cassie. Tony couldn't help but smile, Jess had the kids when Laura went out on missions these days and he knew that she loved being inundated with all the kids, no matter what she said.

He was warm, he'd eaten so much food he felt happy and fuzzy, the kids were happy about a new person joining them and Carol and Rhodey were not at all subtly making goo goo eyes at each other whilst they did the dishes together, which meant he was scot free on chores tonight. Life was good. When the pair finally joined him, _dishes do not take that long_, he helped Rhodey switch from the chair to the sofa. Rhodey relaxing back and sighing. No matter how comfortable you make a wheelchair, it'll never beat his sofa. Carol usually sat next to Rhodey and they'd stick a movie on which Tony was settling to do when Rhodey elbowed him in the ribs and looked at Carol pointedly. Oh yeah. _The talk._

**Third POV**

"Carol, mind parting from our delightful Sour Patch and joining me here, I uh.. Need to talk about, stuff?"

Tony scratched the back of his neck nervously as Carol redirected, obviously interested.

"This about your healing period?"

Tony nodded, he knew that she knew something was up. Carol visited enough to know Tony was in good physical health but she hadn't pushed. Something he loved the woman for as well as the fact she was wicked smart and as tenacious as could be, that Rhodey had the biggest crush on her was an awesome benefit. She didn't even pester Rhodey about Tony, which had happened a lot in his life, much to his irritation. She just told him to take all the time he needed.

Much to Tony's initial confusion, having become accustomed to Roger's way of leadership over the last few years or Fury's overbearing nature. Which mostly consisted of Tony being told he was disappointing someone, somewhere, all the time.

Carol though was patient, and happy to give Tony time to work through whatever it was. He could See that she trusted his judgement. Although he had no idea why. Baffling really, everyone knew he sucked at working with people.

"So, first I just wanted to thank you for giving me all this time to bunk off" He grinned at her, with usual self deprecating humour and is surprised when she frowns at him a little.

"Tony, you aren't bunking off, you've been neck deep in Accords, transitioning and hiring more EX-SHIELD Agents whenever you find them, we really need to rename them by the way, Pepper has been gushing to me at how much work you've done for SI lately, and I know you've been at the lead sorting out things around the compound using Rhodey as a proxy. Rhodey is knackered just actioning all your work! You found all the people in this new team, your brought them together and made them feel safe and gave them a home! If this is '_bunking off_', I'm now terrified of you '_working_'."

She grinned at Tony now who was sitting kind of stunned. Mouth open, ignoring Rhodey was helpfully cackling himself too. Choking out that Carol had made Tony speechless.

"Anyone who would begrudge you some transitioning time to active duty after a 10 day coma would be an insensitive bastard. Even if you had actually rested instead of doing more work than my brain can conceive of, I mean, when do you sleep!?"

Carol did look a little smug at that and Tony clicked his mouth shut. Blinking a few times behind his sunglasses and wondered how much Rhodey had told her about Roger's.

"Oh, he doesn't. He lives off of coffee until he collapses and repeats."

Suddenly Tony found himself looking at two very similar expressions.

"Oh no. There are two of you."

Carol and Rhodey both laugh and shoulder bumped him. Making him feel less criticised for his sleeping (or lack thereof) and over working habits and more _cared for._

"Plus there is all the work into the training rooms and all of our gear. Which by the way, I love the training gear you made me! Thank you so much, it's fun to be able to work out without destroying everything! You've turned this from an ill thought out group slammed together to a genuine organisation with internships, departments for anything I could think of and you're emphasis on the mental health department is awesome and my personal favourite. Need I go on?"

"If you go on, I think he might turn completely red and disappear into the couch."

Rhodey grinned. Obviously finding it highly amusing how flustered Tony was at this but also part of him was happy that finally someone other than him noticed just how much Tony worked for the Avengers. The old team had just taken and taken then demanded more and more without recognising the scope of his work. The fact Tony was flustered and baffled at being thanked alone showed Carol yet another thing that made her angry at the old team, and by proxy, Fury too. No one should have such a confused reaction to having their work congratulated or thanked in her mind.

"I'm also looking forward to you coming back and leading the Avengers with us."

"Huh?"

Tony replied intelligently. He wasn't sure what happened but this conversation had gotten away from him and he wasn't sure exactly what was happening right now...

"I'm a terrible leader, you two a great at it and I'm pretty awful at working with teams anyway.. I just make stuff."

"Tony, please tell me that stupid report Fury and Romanoff wrote about you is not still in your mind? You were the public face of the Avengers for years, the only one who turned up to help after! I'm good at running things in the field man, but you shine at running things at base command, especially with PR and Press Conferences, Carol is awesome with team cohesion, people and training, we all have our zones that occasionally interlock. Me and Carol decided the three of us would be unstoppable."

Rhodey looked smug, Tony was starting to feel like Rhodey had orchestrated this entire thing. Get Tony to tell Carol and they ambush him with compliments and telling him he was a good leader. Tony's brain was practically BSOD now.

"Wait, what report?"

Carol asked Rhodey whilst Tony remembered how to speak.

"Iron Man - Yes, Tony Stark - Not Recommended."

Rhodey spat, Carol's eyebrows shot up.

"Well that's frankly ridiculous. I've not had the pleasure of working with Iron Man yet, I'm sure he's awesome."

Carol smirks at Tony who is still baffled, this is certainly not helping. Rhodey is trying not to laugh, and failing. Who knew that Carol was an expert at confusing Tony into shocked silences.

"But I've been working with Tony Stark for a while now and he's dedicated, works well with us and throws himself passionately into making sure we're all happy! Not recommend my ass."

"I have no idea what's happening right now…"

"I think you broke him Carol."

Carol and Rhodey chuckled as Tony shook his head.

"Well, before you make any decisions of me leading, you probably need to know everything."

Carol just sits back, trying to make Tony feel comfortable as she knew serious conversations about himself were not his forte.

"As you might have noticed, I'm pretty recovered from the coma? One of the reasons I've been '_hiding out'_ so to speak is because of how fast I recovered. Rhodey saved my life. I've been fine since I got home really. Physically."

He gives the man a pointed look in case we are back to guilt Town, Carol glances between the two men, confusion evident on her face but still sat back and relaxed, he can See the questions swimming around her, but she waits on him. Something Tony is endlessly thankful for. He could just imagine trying to have this talk with Rogers or the old team. He doubted the super soldier would sit back and let Tony get to it in his own time, he would bark out questions in a bad order and end up finding Tony at fault for something whilst Tony scrambled to explain. Clint and Wanda sniping at him. Carol and Rogers were like night and day.

"After.. Vision found me in Siberia, I was sinking further into the coma. The doctors thought it was unlikely I'd come out and if I did, things wouldn't be great. You've heard of Extremis right? Rhodey saved me with that."

Tony sucked in a breath, looking quesy. He didn't like thinking of the state he'd have been in, what could have been, he definitely didn't like thinking about Siberia. Avoidance was working well for him as far as he was concerned. He'd been about to start his story at the fight, to explain why he was in the coma, but switched to after instead at the last second. He hadn't even looked at his medical files from his stay. He knew some stuff, and that was too much, after reading brain bleed he snapped the file shut and noped out. Rhodey however had that information indelibly burned into his mind. Carol notices the pain in Rhodey's face and that Tony has paled, she can tell that there is much more that isn't being said.

"Tony, what… what happened in Siberia? I don't want to pry, you don't have to tell me. But as your friend I'd like to know so I can help you in any way you need."

Faced with such an earnest plea Tony finds himself wanting to talk. He starts and stops four times. Words just not coming out, getting frustrated with himself but is shocked to find Carol is just waiting on him. He closes his eyes and breathes out, snagging a tablet and loading up the holoscreen. Placing it in front of her.

"This… this is easier. Tell me when it's done?"

Tony hits play and throws himself into the link, hands over his ears and watching cat videos on YouTube that vision sent him. If he wasn't in the link the hands wouldn't stop my hearing anything, Carol was about to offer him an out when the video started and it grabs her attention. As she sees Barnes, Rogers and Tony.

She knew there would be a fight, but not who had fought Tony, except mentions of other Winter Soldiers when Ross had demanded to know what happened during the search for Roger's and what had happened to him. Luckily Carol had been around to divert him from the very thin, haggard Tony.

Rhodey's hand is on Tony's shoulder, Carol notices Rhodey is watching with an intensity that tells her that maybe he hasn't seen this before either.

Carol and Rhodey watch in silence, Tony in the video, sporting a black eye, looking exhausted yet still standing somehow, chatting amicably with the others. Carol can't help but compare this with the Tony she knows. With so much life in him, always making time with the kids. Although she realises oddly that this is the first time she's seen him without sunglasses on. She doesn't know why but that thought sent a chill down her spine.

From what she could see, the soldiers were dead already, Zemo's voice could be heard... But he couldn't have done that level of damage to Tony. But it couldn't have been the super soldiers? Why would they hurt him so much as to put him in a coma? She doesn't know why but dread pools in her stomach, joining the chill down her spine. Even though she knows Tony is fine sat next to her, this has an overwhelming sense of wrongness to her. Zemo's speech doesn't help.

_'I know that road._'

'_What is this?'_

Rhodey visibly flinched at the pain in Tony's voice. Carol glances between the two men, but her attention is dragged back to the screen as she watches in quiet horror the events play out in front of her. Watching a friend discover news like this, having to watch your parents die after spending your life thinking it was an accident. Rage burns in her when she finds out Rogers knew that his best friend had killed Tony's parents! He should have found out among family, not amongst liars, strangers and whatever Zemo was.

"How long did he know?" She seethed, asking quietly to Rhodes. Glancing at Tony, wondering how he could sit here and listen to this but the man didn't even twitch in reaction to the video or her voice.

"Two Years" Rhodey spat "Two years where he used Tony to find him. Two years of him attacking Tony for _keeping secrets_."

Carol sucks in a breath before she's pulled into the video again.

_'Don't bullshit me Rogers, did you know?' _

_'Yes' _

Tony reacts to that Yes like he'd been hit and it makes Carol see red. Because as much as Tony barely mentions the man, as much as Rhodes utterly despised the man, Carol had known that they'd been team mates, but that reaction told her that they'd been friends, that Tony had t_rusted_ him, even up to this fight he'd still trusted him, and that's what makes her see red.

She's not surprised when Tony hits Roger's. A little shocked it was open handed. She'd have punched him right in his stupid, stubborn, unrepentant jaw.

She's watched many Iron Man fights as she got to know the new team, a requirement for eventual integration of a heavy hitter. She can see he's holding back at key moments. She doesn't know about The Winter Soldier, but she's seen enough fights of Rogers that she knows he isn't holding back.

Unable to turn away, she watches the video. Her hand gripping Tony's knee, Rhodey's hand on his shoulder. As if to remind themselves he's here. He came out the other side of this fight. Maybe he didn't walk away, maybe it changed him irrevocably, but she still got to know him. She'd known the betrayal and split of the Avengers had hit him hard, watched the other recordings of the fights and mess after the Vienna bombing. This she feels is the missing piece of the civil war, the split had too much pain, it was just too personal to just be the Accords and Roger's stupidity.

_'I can do this all day' _

Watching Rogers pound on Tony with his vibranium shield, who is lying on the ground is almost too much for Rhodey. He had an idea of what's coming next based on the suit and Tony's injuries, but he finds himself unable to look away. Carols sucked in breath when the helmet is roughly torn from Tony's head makes Rhodey flinch. Rhodey is looking at the damage to his left gauntlet and now without the helmet, with no protection from the Siberia spring. Seeing the breaches in the suit and what that would mean for him. A cold spring at that, the temperature just scraping above zero degrees Fahrenheit. Carol makes a strangled noise as she worried for a second like Tony did, if that shield would hit his neck or exposed face. Even with the man solid next to her tells her otherwise.

It slamming down into the arc reactor isn't much better. Not when she sees the entire suit power down… then they just leave him. In a suit. With no power in freaking Siberia.

A metal coffin in the snow.

The picture of Tony in the coma flashes in her mind. The video carries on for about a minute of Tony alone until it shuts off. Tony must have edited the video to only show the fight. Rhodey taps Tony's shoulder who sucks in a breath and glances up as if coming up from underwater. He'd been considering when he was linked that he'd been making Carol's job harder, she'd been trying to learn about the old team to ensure this never happened again and he'd not given her all the data.

"I'll have FRIDAY send you information and videos of the old team of you like, I know you have the mission reports and some videos, but I'm just realising you might need to know how to old team functioned off the battlefield, I meant to do that weeks ago, but that is what happened in Siberia."

"Or how it didn't function."

Rhodey muttered to himself, he was still very angry at the old team. Part of him was angry at himself too, he should have done more to be on Tony's side and protect him.

Tony shuts the tablet down, Rubbing his hands together, trying to stave off the chill threatening to claim him. Avoiding eye contact from either Carol or Rhodey.

"Tony… How long did it take for Vision to come?"

Tony's laugh is brittle and it makes Rhodey flinch a little, Carol sucked in a breath because there was pain in that laugh.

"A… While. I had to purge tracking data because I was trying to protect _him._"

She remembered in the video where he had told Roger's that no one knew he was there. So they'd left him, knowing he was without power and no one knew where he was.

The smirk on Tony's face seems.. off to her somehow to her, especially with his brittle laugh and Carol is starting to see another part of Tony she hadn't seen before.

She'd noticed that he had many sides, Apart from the overworked boss, the futurist, the engineer, the man who revolutionises new sciences just because he can, the doting dad, the dad friend that cares so much for the team, the mechanic who makes things for them, on and off the field. The man who got them individualised mugs, who gave them a home and forged these unlikely people into the beginnings of a family so soon after his old family had been violently wrenched away.

In all of that, she'd seen... glimpses of a well of pain deep enough to concern her, and had enough information to know he had PTSD. But she realised then that he kept so much hidden, how much suffering, pain, and guilt had Tony somehow survived? He was practically… feral with it. How much betrayal could someone experience and still trust? Yet he did somehow, it seemed to be himself he'd lost trust in. Like he was on a dangerous edge where that passion could turn vicious if he let it.

Carol doesn't push, a glance at Rhodey who shakes his head minutely telling her that he doesn't know how long he spent in Siberia either. She doesn't doubt that he knows, they both can see it in his face that Tony knows every minute. She wonders if Tony has told _anyone_ how long he had lain, trapped in a metal coffin that saved his life, and injured by his family, left in the cold. Wondering again how Tony is even _sane._ She grabbed his right hand, Squeezing tightly to try and impart comfort. She won't force him to tell her the number, but she'll listen if he ever does she decides.

"Extremis… It couldn't fix everything."

He gently, tentatively touched her hand still holding her right with his left. Still covered with the sleeve, but as soon as she wrapped her fingers around it she could feel the difference. He tapped out the morse code to close the cover, (Carol hid the grin as he tapped P-O-O-F out in morse code) and Carol watched in fascination as the matt black of the metal hand was revealed.

"Oh Tony. You know don't need to hide this from us?"

He goes to pull his metal hand back, he's always worried it would repulse someone, even though no one has reacted that way, and Carol somehow sees this, so she grabs it and holds it just as much as his right. He's baffled. But.. Kind of hopeful. He watches with a smile as she looks fascinated by it.

"Can you feel with this, this is amazing, although I shouldn't be shocked that you developed this!"

He nods, with the hand he's still torn, on one side, he made a metal prosthetic hand that it attached to his nerves. That's awesome. It doesn't feel exactly the same as his flesh hand, but he's always tinkering to improve it. To feel more, heck he can weigh things with it now. But that was because Peter broke the weighing scales trying to make cinnamon buns and when he went to fix it, Harley thought it would be cool to make his hand capable of more things than a normal hand. He hadn't considered that meant standing in the kitchen weighing flour however..

"There is something… else that's changed. I got frostbite on my corneas too. Well, I got frostbite practically everywhere, as long as there was something left alive, Extremis could build on it though. The hospital thought I'd be entirely blind, my left eye was utterly dead nothing left. My right was still there but very badly damaged and blind. Like my other injuries, Extremis was able to fix all of that, luckily, if there was enough alive, it regenerated it. But it could not regrow dead tissue, it couldn't create nerves from nothing."

He took his right hand back, convinced she wouldn't let go on his left now, stubbornly. She was focused on his glasses now, at his words that chill was back, she'd known there was something to do with the glasses. Most of the avengers had been wondering about it, concerned but had given Tony space to come to them about it. Now, knowing the trauma behind this, she is happy they didn't try to push and gave him time to get here himself.

"This is why I wear glasses all the time."

Cringing slightly as he pulled them off, resolutely reminding himself to keep his eyes _open_ this time. Carol gasped, and Tony tentatively looks at her to see her be horrified or freaked out… But is baffled that she still looks as amazed as she did with his hand. He can See that she's not just faking it either, especially now that he has the glasses off. The interest is sparking around her, the golden electricity that usually wraps around her moving faster than usual.

"Tony, I know you probably aren't expecting this, and your a guy, so this probably isn't the word you'd like…"

Carol's grin on her face and her colours put him at ease, wondering what she's going to say.

"But you're eyes are beautiful."

Tony barks out a laugh, yeah he hadn't seen that coming. The blue unsettled him occasionally so he'd assumed it would unsettle other people. Kids not included, kids were weird and liked anything weird. She says it with such confidence it amazes him and gives him confidence to go all in. Looking at Rhodey.

"All in?"

"I've been telling you to go all in since we left the hospital. At least with family."

Carol actually looks excited.

"There is more?"

"Yeah, I figured with you being the leader that you need a run down of my weirdness and my, ugh, '_abilities_', and I've not really told many people about the weird bits. I have just been kind hiding and I don't think it's helping. Rhodey, pass the wipes?"

Carol frowns as Rhodey reaches into the drawer next to the sofa to get out the make up wipes and putting them on his lap as he listens to Carol talk. Carol glancing at them, wondering what on earth was going to be next.

"Yeah, hiding new abilities and trying to ignore stuff is rarely good for people like us, they might come out at bad times you need to train ideally, the more the better."

Tony blinks slightly at the idea of being included in the same category as someone like Carol. Rhodey feels like if he rolls his eyes on this subject anymore he'll actually see his brain. Tony has this weird disconnect from the fact they now lives with many people with weird abilities so why would they be weird about him joining them?!

"Well, I'm kind of a technopath now."

Chuckling, he brings up the holograms on the table with his mind this time instead of touching them. Loading this and that, and finally Chat box He types 'HI CAROL ;)' in whilst sitting there completely still.

"Fitting!"

Carol winks back because Tony Stark being a technopath does just seem perfect in her mind. It just seems like the next logical step.

"The virus, it was a version I'd been playing with. I'd never Intended to use it."

He tries to assure her, worried she'd think he was power hungry or something, obviously thinking about what he past teammates would have reacted to him. Carol gives him a look that makes him relax again. A frown that said 'Stop being an idiot' so clearly a laugh nearly jumped out of him, but he was still knackered after the hysterical laughing fit in the workshop.

"I'd been trying to see just how much I could change and keep it stable, kind of like a hobby. The original extremis made people so strong, healing from horrible, terrible things, so fast, even with occasional fire breathing, but they… kind of exploded because they couldn't stabilise it. The exothermic reaction was utterly out of control."

"I saw the files, I still can't believe it was tested on people with such a glaring flaw! I'll assume that you aren't going to explode though? Can you breathe fire though? Because then I'm calling you a dragon. Iron Dragon?"

She asked, so matter of factly that Tony is left blinking again. Every time he had imagined these conversations they did not go this way. Really he should remember that he's surrounded by people who are different in one way or another.

"Ah, no, no fire breathing, but I can change my body temp. Not as flashy."

Laughing he started raising his body temperature until it was very noticeable. His hands quite a bit warmer now.

"Ooooo, I like this. You are now officially my heating pack when I get cold. I can see arguments over who gets to sit next to you on movie night and everything."

Tony laughs. Feeling something unclench inside him at Carols easy, excited acceptance of things he'd been struggling with since he woke up.

"Strength, speed, healing and such all got a boost too, I don't know if I could spar on par with you though, how are you so cool with this?"

Tony still hadn't pushed him limits yet to see how strong he was, he knew now that he was extremely fast, especially if he let go of his other senses and just focused on speed and carrying around Rhodey's physio equipment was very easy. Maybe Carol was right, he needed to properly train, see what he could do. Maybe with practice he'd be able to push to top speed and hold onto other things. This still felt too surreal. Yeah he was Iron Man, but he'd always been baseline human surrounded by supers.

"Tony, did you not notice that you have been collecting powered people like stray cats? So you are obviously fine with people who aren't baseline human?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

Tony frowns when Rhodey facepalmed next to him.

"Well, you are just powered too now. What's wrong with that?"

She probes, getting the feeling that he is conflicted over having abilities himself. Noticing that the easy acceptance he has for others no matter how strange or scary that ability is, is just lacking for some reason when it comes to himself.

"If I say it, it sounds awful."

"Well say it anyway. I'm not going to be angry at you Tony, you are still new to this."

"I feel like I've traded in my humanity. Like I lost something by not being human anymore. I have no idea what I am now."

Tony frowned, knowing that saying this to powered people isn't exactly nice, like maybe he's saying they aren't human or something. He doesn't believe that at all, but there is just a disconnect when he thinks of himself.

"But you still see the rest of us as humans? Even if we are enhanced, inhuman or mutant? You treat Vis as a person too. Your AIs too."

"Of course I do!"

"Oh sweetheart. You are still you. Just a little stronger, faster, more connected to your tech, which by the way, I'm not shocked at, you have always been quite connected with your tech from what I've seen. You're still human too Tony."

Tony let's out the breath he'd been holding. Ducking his head guiltily. Also wondering how many of the back files had Carol actually read! And she accused him of over working!

"I was worried that you'd think I was insulting you, calling you less human or something."

"I understand, I've had my abilities longer, you'll get there with yours. Now tell me about your eyes, I'm guessing it's not just decoration?"

"No, that's actually the weirdest part I'm having trouble with."

He chews his lip, wondering how to talk about it. Rhodey leans forward because getting Tony to discuss this is like pulling teeth and apparently Carol is the Tony-Whisperer... Plus Rhodey muses to himself, it's harder to flee the room when Carol is holding onto you.

"Weird is relative. Pretty sure I exploded."

Carol smirks, shrugging, abilities were strange things and trying to apply rules to them usually was just asking for the rules to be broken. They had a blind man that could fight and see better than sighted people and a magic ex surgeon on their Roster, not even getting into the rest of Defenders, collaborating with the Fantastic 4 and Xavier too? She'd never felt more accepted. She hoped Tony would end up feeling similar, introducing him to Xavier sounded like a good plan, that man had perfected the art of getting people with sudden abilities used to them.

Tony drummed his fingers against Carol's hand in a nervous gesture, he would have drummed them against his chest but Carol was still enjoying herself with the warmth of his right hand and gently fiddling with the joints on his left much to his amusement.

"We'll, first, I thought it was a kind of synesthesia? Like is you click your fingers, I'd see like a flame of colour. Thankfully I can control that or talking would by annoying."

"That is so cool!"

"Yeah? I kind of like it, it's made learning instruments really different and fun when I was stuck in bed. That was Peter's idea as PT that wasn't boring."

"Oh yeah Carol, you have to hear him on the violin. He never touched one before last week and now it's entrancing, I want him to pay all the time! The first day was like screeching cats however."

Rhodey grimaces thinking back to that day, he is still pretty sure Tony kept up the screeching on purpose, always appearing in the same room as him. Until he decided to try and play properly (When Peter got home!) Carol bounces a little in excitement and Tony finds its catching. Having an adult excited over this stuff apparently is just what he needs, kids are kind of naturally crazy and Rhodey was still a big kid under the grouch and serious exterior he showed the world. He didn't know how people didn't see it, the man had been friends with Tony Stark voluntarily since he was 14 years old, yet people assumed he was all seriousness and adult.

"That's awesome, I expect to hear everything! Maybe not the screeching though. So, you said at first?"

"Yeah, this is the bit I'm not so fond of… I see these colours on… people. It was dull at first, patchy, but now it's very strong. Everyone is different in some way or another, and say red on one person doesn't mean the same red on someone else. Sometimes I can get information out of it… but sometimes I just can't understand it all, or it takes me a while to understand. Sometimes I just know somehow."

Tony frowned, even describing it was maddening and wishy-washy.

"I can get insights on the person, basically, in a weird way."

Rhodey was chuckling at the look on Tony's face. He looks somewhat like he was just forced to eat a lemon. Obviously not liking the variable nature of this ability.

"Oh, And he refuses to tell me what he Sees in people."

Rhodey sulks. Chucking the packet of make up wipes over to Tony, Carol glances at the pack, eyebrow raised, Tony doesn't notice as she's looking at Rhodey, frowning a little.

"That's because… It's, it's private, it's like I'm Seeing into someone's soul or some other new age gobbledygook. I'm only ever vague or only with the person I'm looking at. I try not to use it, but I can't.. not. I can't turn it off. I've tried, the information is just in my head. All the time. Sometimes it's like if I don't say the thing it gets louder until its all I see and hear, luckily that doesn't always happen, thankfully."

The grimace on Tony's face shows that he's tried to ignore this entirely or ignoring parts of it and had unpleasant reactions. Carol isn't surprised by the nature of the ability, it doesn't sound like something that would be ignored quietly.

"Yeah, you know those random comments he comes out with occasionally, the one that makes the person look awed or stunned by insight? And confused Tony Stark is making it."

Carol's eyes open huge, she'd noticed that Tony seemed to pluck comments out of nowhere. Seemingly apart from conversations, vague to others and yet it always stunned the person involved. She'd assumed it was part of his personality and genius that had been hidden from the press. Or rather ignored by it, the press still occasionally acted like Tony hadn't changed after Afghanistan sometimes much to Carols confusion.

"See, when people know this, that I invade people's minds, no one will want me near them. I'm basically Wanda."

Tony said with an obvious shudder, Rhodey jumps at that. He hadn't known that Tony was comparing himself to the Witch.

"Tony, No. You're not invading people's minds without permission, you aren't looking at their thoughts, you aren't a mind reader, and you have a strong sense that stuff if private. She had a choice whether to read people's minds!"

Carol grips his hands, trying to send comfort, she didn't know practically anything about Wanda, except that Jim really didn't like her, all the files from the raft had been blacked out. But from what he just said, she knew Tony wasn't like that. A sense of a person was different that having their mind be an open book.

Whilst there was a lot of documentation left over from the other Avengers that Tony had given her full access to, there was shockingly little on Wanda. Until now, that hadn't concerned her much. True, she'd wondered how and why she'd joined the Avengers as there didn't seem to be a process like Tony had implemented now, but she'd assumed everyone liked her and she'd been a good fit, so they brought her in. Tony vehemence against her called that into question, as far as she'd deduced, Tony and Steve had been running the Avengers? So why would he invite a person on the team he was this against? Carol swore she even saw a flash of fear, which chilled her. Tony wasn't the kind of person afraid of anything but himself.

"I know… But…"

"No, Tony, you are not her, you don't trap people in their worst nightmares and force them to live with it forever. You don't fucking mind rape people! You don't enjoy watching people suffer, she always used her magic around you even though she obviously knew how you felt about it! She forced Bruce to run away again."

Tony flinched quite violently from that reminder. Carol, open mouthed in shock looking between the two men.

"Wait. What?!"

Rhodey grabs the tablet, bringing up what he's looking for as Tony protests. Rhodey ignores it, he's fed up of his friend suffering because of the Hydra Bitch. If he'd known that he was comparing himself to her he would have tackled this before now. He curses to himself and turns the tablet to Carol.

"If you don't mind Tony, I'd like to see? She has been the least documented of the Avengers, Roger's just had down that she was instrumental in stopping Ultron.."

Rhodey's scoff just makes Carol want to know even more, everytime she thinks she has worked out the problems with the old team, something like this happens and it makes her wonder how they lasted as many years as they did. Thinking of the videos FRIDAY will be sending over, there was more to this team than what was written in the battle reports and she wanted to get her teeth into it.

Although she did enjoy some of the reports, different members noted different things, Tony's were hilarious, Rhodey's were extremely thorough when he joined. His military experience seemingly noted more. Roger's were usually critical and missing important observations as for why the team did certain stuff. Natashas were very descriptive and Clint's usually had food stuck to them. Thor's were hand written when he was around and he had lovely handwriting. Bruce's made her want to meet the man, she got a sense of goodness from him.

She shook her head, she'd dive into this later, she had a feeling it was going to be important in the long run especially when Natasha came of house arrest.

"I… I can't watch this again."

Carol turned to Tony is sure she saw a gold ring flash around his brown eye, barely there for a fraction of a second and easy to mistake for the flecks in his eyes, then his eyes are looking out, unseeing. She waves her figures in front of his eyes and they don't track.

"I'm guessing this is what he did during the Siberia video? He can't see or hear us?"

Rhodey nods as he gets ready to play the video.

"He's in the uplink, kind of like in the Internet is how he described it.

"We only recently uncovered this video when Tony was going through a dump of Hydra files. Until he saw this video, he blamed himself entirely for Ultron. Stupidly. As did everyone else. He thought it was all in his head. It terrified him and made him desperate. Everyone seems to forget Bruce was there too. With his PTSD, what he's seen, she only needed to push the right buttons."

Rhodey shook his head, he knew his Brother. He might say that he blamed the Witch now. But he knew that he still blamed himself because it was his hands that built it. Even with someone playing and pushing in his mind. Tony hoarded guilt. The man had paid for every funeral after New York, and everywhere else they fought for that matter. He pumped so much money into the devastated areas he stopped their economies falling into severe recessions, single-handed in some instances, even as he was hated by the people he was helping, he still helped in ways they were comfortable with. Even with all that, he still felt guilt. He rarely let the press in on much of his reparation efforts either, just the ones he had no choice in, like if he was caught on photograph helping rebuild houses, like when he'd finally been allowed into Sokovia.

Carol looks mad, she'd seen the trial for Ultron, that Tony had been found not guilty, but negligent. That since she'd come to the compound and actually met FRIDAY, and how confused she'd been. How confused that a man that had been revolutionising everything AI based since he was a teen would suddenly create Ultron, it didn't make sense to her. But there were few people around now that had been present for that debacle, and those who were.. didn't like discussing it. She wondered if after this when she's with Rhodes alone, if he would explain everything to her.

"Dear Gods, I don't even know half of the things he's been through do I? How bad is his PTSD? I know he's good at hiding it."

Rhodey startled a little before just nodding, not used to other people even noticing it in Tony, just shrugging it off as him being an eccentric genius. Tony was also scarily good at hiding his pain. Even from him. He plays the video and Carol watches another Hydra base come up on the screen.

Carol looks between enraged and in pain. She hadn't been here long, but in her time with Tony recovering she'd become increasingly protective of the small, eccentric man who rarely stops moving. Rhodey's MIT stories of Tony at 14 might have had a hand in it too.

'_Thor, I've got eyes on the prize..' _

Seeing the witch come up behind him makes her tense… Those red whips striking into his mind without his knowledge and his eyes glass over as she retreats. By the time he comes back from wherever she sent him, she's out of sight. Why was she in a Hydra base anyway? And why was she doing this against the Avengers if she fought against Ultron? The missing pieces were making her angry. No wonder the witches magic scared him, even if he hadn't known about this till recently, part of him must have recoiled at her magic. She knew it did her and she'd never been near it, just seeing and knowing was bad enough, a corrupted mess from the mind stone, the thought alone makes her shudder.

"Why was she there? In a Hydra base?"

As the video shuts off she's quietly horrified. The fact that he'd been blamed for Ultron, that the Witch was accepted as good but didn't bother to own up to her part in it? Rhodey looks confused for a moment before he realises, Rogers must have kept all Hydra mentions out of anything they recorded.

"She was Hydra."

"What?! Like Barnes?"

"Nope, she and her brother volunteered to become Hydra experiments because a Stark labeled weapon hit their house as children. Killed their parents but didn't explode. So, logically, they grew up wanting to kill him enough to be in Hydra. They allied with Ultron, they only flipped sides when Ultron wanted to kill everyone instead of just Tony. "

Rhodey rolled his eyes, because her story pissed him off. Sokiva wasn't a place SI supplied bombs to and Tony's bombs wouldn't just sit there unexploded. If it had been on of his they'd be dead. Personally he thought it was Stane or a black market fake. Tony however for some reason accepted everything she threw at him. Even if it was his bomb, he didn't fire it, killing him wouldn't change anything and Tony had spent nearly a decade seeking redemption for his perceived crimes selling weapons to the military. Since then he'd been all about accountability. The Witch went around smashing things then batted her pretty doe eyes and started her '_I'm just a child_' routine. As far as he was concerned she was an adult, Tony had been younger when he'd been left with his company and Stane yet he was held accountable. Double standards.

"That's... That's just.."

"Yeah, I know. Rogers and Barton were utterly entranced by her doe eyed child like schtick. They never seem to think that she must have trained those abilities with Hydra. I doubt she got them and automatically knew what to do and I doubt that Hydra wouldn't have use for powers like that."

She shook his head, he still couldn't believe how people were so blind around the young woman. He suspected Hydra taught her these tricks. Carol turns and taps Tony's hands gently, he looked up and she definitely sees a gold flash in his right eye again, now she's looking for it she sees it clearer than before as he comes out of wherever he was.

"Tony, Tony. You've been through so much. I'm sorry I didn't realise how much pain you've been through."

"It's alright carol I'm used to it."

Tony just smiles and shrugs it off as a joke, it's kind of been his life for years by now. Rhodey is just happy to finally having another sane person trying to potentially get through to Tony that he doesn't deserve all this crap and this most definitely is not normal. Even their brand of normal.

"You shouldn't have to be!"

The confused look he gives her at that just dials up her mother hen instincts to 11.

"As long as it's not open heart surgery in the desert, I don't think I can complain. Plus so many people died because of me for Ultron. It's nothing I can't handle."

"you don't deserve to suffer because of Ultron, those deaths aren't just on your shoulders, and we should tell Matt about this, this is important evidence, he's been griping about your trial for weeks now since he met FRIDAY. He's going to appeal your trial and get this sorted, do you mind telling him this and also, when we've done that. You are going to tell me what you meant by that comment!"

"Huh, I thought you knew about that?"

"Well I don't, so I'm going to text Matt. Then some day, you and me and you are going to sit in a quiet room and you're going to tell me everything you want."

Carol looks so determined, Rhodey looks ridiculously proud and happy that he's got allies now, both of them watching Tony, who was looking utterly confused. Spending years being told you talk too much and not to have feelings don't exactly prepare you for this.

"You want to know about these things?"

"Of course I do Tony. You're my friend, I'm guessing you haven't told anyone but Rhodey about a lot of stuff and with your celebrity status, I'm guessing therapy is not something you've seen safe to do, so telling your friends is a good option."

Rhodey blinked, a little shocked that she clicked to that so fast. It has taken Rhodey ages to work out why Tony was pro-mental health for other people, even though he hated the science, but so adamantly against it for himself.

"I've tried. Twice. Even with background checks and an inordinate, stupid, amount of money, they sold me out."

Tony sneered and rolled his eyes and Rhodey is pretty sure Carol is actual magic. Tony doesn't discuss feelings. Yes he's still sneering about it, but he actually answered. Huh. Carol.. The Tony-Whisperer indeed.

"Well, you don't have to tell me everything or anything really, but you tell me what you want whenever you want. That's what friends and family are for. Plus, the staff you found for the mental health dept in the compound, I'm sure they'd be confidential?"

Seeing her colours, Tony actually wants to. Which surprises him and he locks his jaw to fight it. Wants to tell her everything. He tilts his head, eyes going glassy as he follows the colours that are unique to Carol. They make him feel warm and oddly safe, so much like electricity too, her force of will crackles and sparks. It's a similar feeling he gets in his workshop or with Rhodey and he decides not to analyse it too much. He weirdly just wants to spill everything. From Howard to Siberia but bites down on it, he's already dumped enough baggage at Carols feet.

He nods, a little too quickly whilst rubbing his face. Weirdly this entire situation has him feeling like crying, but he fights back. Ugh, emotions. That's why he hates these conversations!

"Okay, I think I'm maxed out of emotion related stuff today."

Tony chuckles pulling a few of the wipes to scrub his face.

"What are they for anyway? I was wondering.."

Carol let's him change topic, he's fragile right now, his mask is gone and she realises that Tony without his mask looks so much different and hates that he's needed to hide behind a hard mask of arrogance to survive. She'd seem glimpses around the kids, but it makes her feel happy she's been included. Knowing most people wouldn't look past the image he presented. Just seeing the arrogant, rich man and not go deeper. Sure, she had an 'in', following cracks opened up by Rhodey, but it hadn't taken her long to get to know Tony herself.

"That would be this."

He scrubs for a few more seconds until he's sure all of the makeup is off whilst Carol shoots Rhodes a confused look. Rhodes just smiles and says nothing, so sue him, he finds these reveals amusing, he wonders how Tony is going to do the team reveal and flashes back to the 'I am Ironman' reveal and suspects he's going to rip off the bandaid, these emotional reveals are a bit much for his brother to deal with. Telling people with no preamble and letting them deal with it is more his style. When Carol looks back to Tony she lets out a startled out '_Oh_!' The nearing 50 year old man has been replaced with a Tony in his 20s.

"Holy crap!"

"Yeah that was my reaction when I woke up! But with more swearing."

"That must have been so weird!"

"Oh hell yeah, I thought I was in an extremely fucked up dream until Rhodey dumped a cup of water on my head. The nurses were not best pleased with him."

Carol chuckles before letting her eyes go soft and reaching out to squeeze Tony's shoulder.

"Waking up to find your body has changed so much isn't an easy thing to experience. I understand why you hid away until you're ready to accept it. I imagine it's all a bit much, especially after everything you found out in Siberia."

"I was just being a co-"

"No Tony, this is huge. Waking up to such huge changes would take anyone a while to deal with it. Even people who signed up for it."

"I have a few actual issues to, I wasn't just hiding because I was a '_freaked out mess'._ Promise. I've gotten good at the technopathy, but it's still linked to my emotions. If I get annoyed, tech suffers. Oh, and you remember when I met with you, Jess, Hope, Matt and Luke for pizza when they semi moved in? And I got all quiet, staring whilst you were all calling out and then I passed out?"

"Yeah, we were very worried about you that day. I thought you were having a seizure! Rhodes said he got you squared away safely and that you were fine."

"Well the colours sometimes it's too much and I jumped in the deep end too fast early on. Too many people. Sometimes it overrides my vision entirely. I've been practicing with strangers and I'm getting better though. Plus if I'm in the suit, I don't see them, like with mirrors or recordings."

He assured, talking quick like he was scared she'd kick him out of the Avengers for being a basket case or that his abilities rendered him useless, or be angry at him for _something_, she could see the fear in his eyes and she just wanted to wrap him up forever and kick the old team, who she assumed are at fault for these insecurities.

"That makes sense, training new abilities is tough and when you tell the team we can help."

"I.. What, huh?"

"Tony, that's what a team does. Training weird abilities is normal around here remember, you make equipment we can't blow up. Do you want to tell people individually or together?"

"Together I think? Meeting soon, rip the band aid off, I'll, uh. Do you think I should explain Siberia or just from the coma?"

"it's up to you if you want to go through everything Siberia related, but there will be questions of how you got into the coma. I'll organise a meeting and after we can talk to Matt about this Ultron issue."

She gave him a look that she wasn't going to let that slide and Tony found that he was quietly happy about that. It wasn't something he'd felt he was allowed to pursue alone? If he was being selfish?

She wanted the team to see the Siberia video too, although she was unsure Tony would want so many people seeing it. She was biased enough to accept she wanted them to see it so she had others to rage with and the sensible part wanted them to know who Tony needed protection from. Explaining it was Steve would be tricky with just the airport fight being common knowledge, no one was a blind Cap fan here, not with how he'd effectively said screw you to the world and just vanished.

Few people understood Rhodes vicious hatred of him. Grimly replaying the video in her head, now his hatred seemed well placed. Watching 2 superheroes beat down an unenhanced, grieving and already bruised man was a hard thing to get past. Especially knowing what happened after.

Tony knew that If it had been Rogers he was talking to about the Wanda video, he would have demanded Tony bury it like he'd demanded Tony bury Johannesburg. That he sacrifice himself for Wanda because she's 'Just a child'. Even though his company had suffered because of Ultron, what the old team never understood when Tony mentioned this wasn't that he was being selfish about losing money. Tony actually cared for his staff, and he had a lot of them. Plus subsidiaries all over the world, not including that they offered important aid to communities in need, stuff that was almost thrown away because the team shoved him alone on the sword of Ultron. Let alone the fun of being detained before the trial. Having a reputation for escaping ridiculous situations had not come in handy there. Sure they didn't collar him like they did Wanda but they did go overboard.

"For now, you need a break Tony, you've done so much tonight."

"I've not done much, just showed you videos and ignored them whilst getting grossly emotional."

Tony grimaced at his behaviour. Carol just gave him her 'you're being ridiculous' face. She wore it often around him and was surprising good at getting him to do things, Rhodey was torn between being jealous and gleeful that Carol was the Tony-Whisperer. '_Where was this glorious woman decades ago_' Rhodey idly thought.

"Tony, you just opened up to me, a lot, I get the feeling you don't do this often."

Rhodey snorts as Tony flushes. Carol just smiles and tugged him so he was lying down on the sofa, asking FRIDAY to put a fun film onto the TV. She tossed a blanket over Tony and Rhodes and then snagged one herself, even sharing her super secret chocolate stash with him, Tony never found it even though it was literally hidden in his apartment.

He ends up lying down, with his head on a pillow in Carols lap, legs on Rhodey. Carol carding her fingers through his hair whilst she watches the movie, enjoying Tony's reaction to such a small comfort in her mind, as if in his it was huge and she made a mental note to do this more often. Rhodey and Carol grinning as Tony just makes a happy content noise and drifts a little whilst Carol starts planning out ways to tell the team this information in a less stressful manner for Tony. She imagined that these conversations would take a lot out of him.

Goose suddenly pops out of the vent, they metal clattering noisily to the floor, much to Carols shock.

Rhodey looks on in caution after that time Tony and Peter put ham on his favourite old trainers that they kept complaining about, and left them '_accidentally_' in front of Goose. Fair to say, he had new trainers now. Goose however ignored him and jumped directly onto Tony's stomach. Carol is surprised as she hadn't known Goose visited occasionally apparently, Rhodey however is utterly not surprised because this is Tony they are talking about after all. Although the first time had scared the crap out of him, he hadn't even known Carol had a cat.. Let alone Goose.

"Moose Goose! Where have you been lately."

Rhodey laughs at the look of confusion on Carols face.

"If it's remotely dangerous and within 10 miles of Tony, he attracts it."

Carol looks at the vents

"I didn't know she'd made it to the vents…"

"Oh yeah, I'm considering installing cat flaps on them for her."

Tony has a huge grin on his face, utterly focused on Goose as she curls up on his chest, paws curled around his metal hand and Carol suddenly can't wait for Tony to tell the team. Without his glasses on, not hiding his hand, he seems more open, lighter and smiling more than she'd seen him before.

That even though he'd just finished remembering an awful amount of utterly horrible memories, he can still smile and be happy just because Goose likes him.

She glances over at Rhodey and noticed he seems lighter too.

The two of them are carrying the weight of these secrets. Both of them carrying the weight of the world. '_Boys'_

Yes, she decided to make it her mission for now.

For both these silly boys sake.


	5. Chapter 5 - Secrets Will Have Out

**Secrets Will Have Out**

**T'Challa POV**

_**September 9th**_

"Brother! We have presents!"

"Who is this from exactly?"

T'Challa eyed the box carefully, the strange conversation with Dr Stark had been replaying in his head for the last few hours. The man had seemed.. quite sharp towards him? Which surprised him a little. He'd been busy with the Accords and his kingdom that he hadn't checked in with him since their last encounter, but that wouldn't be it. They both knew what it was like to be busy, Although Dr Stark's absence from the Accords meetings, using the Colonel as his proxy was now playing on his mind. It was not a comfortable feeling.

"Dr Stark, obviously, he told me he'd called you to say he was sending us stuff."

"Ah, so you told him where to send it?"

That would explain something anyway, probably how he knew about the rou-

"Pffft, of course not. He likes a challenge."

"Did he mention…"

"Why he's mad at you? Oh yes."

He blinked he few times. Well apparently his sister was also mad at him, and maybe for more reasons than just the visitors who had been driving them up the wall as he had assumed. She scooped out a few things in the box and placed them on his desk, what he assumed was his? Then she turned to head to her lab with the rest. Not even glancing up at him, all of her attention on the boxes contents. A stuffed panther stared at him and he had to admit it was adorable, would an angry person send a stuffed panther? Apparently so.

"I can't tell you precisely why, as Dr Stark hasn't told me everything. But he said this much and it was enough for me._ 'He left me to die, then he took them in'_. Leaving allies behind brother? I'd thought better of you."

With that, she turned and stalked off, leaving T'Challa stunned. Then angry. Very angry. Captain America had assured him that Dr Stark was merely momentarily disabled so they could leave quickly, that he'd be home in no time. He hoped that his inaction and trust had not caused Dr Stark too much pain. Bast. _What had he done_?

He picked up the Pink Panther card to read whilst looking at the plushy black panther sat on top of what looked like the Accords that had a neat, oddly pretty script written all over the margins in various colours.

"They gave him Siberia…? What happened in that damned bunker..?"

Maybe he had a chance to mend this bridge, but first he would have to discover what **burnt it**.

**Shuri POV**

Shuri stalked away from her brother, carrying the box and hoping that he would finally start looking at things closer, the decision to let the band of idiots into her home was something that was still grating on her nerves. As it did every single time Roger's turned up asking why his Bucky was still on ice. '_Because that's what he requested you idiot!'_ Also the renditions of why she hadn't come up with a solution for the words yet, why the scientists hadn't.

Trying to explain to the man that whilst they had amazing mental health services, '_fixing_' brainwashing, nearly a century of torture and what on earth those words do to that man's brain was not going to be fixed in a snap of the fingers! Also asking -_demanding_\- a vibranium shield?! Urgh.

On occasion more of them came in a show of support, and she had to endure their constant diatribe of '_Stark is the Devil_'.

Dr Stark had quickly become a good friend, they could bounce ideas back and forth with ease, and he wasn't put off by the fact she knew more in some areas. He was not intimidated by her, he encouraged her. It wasn't as if she had never had these things before, but she felt like she had someone on her level now, and he got there without the vast resources she had, with no vibranium. Her brother wouldn't tell her much, but she knew that the arc reactor and Ironman was born in a cave on 3 months of capture and likely torture.

They had collaborated on a few things now, outside of both of their usual zones and it was fun! Hearing these vile excuses for '_team mates_' insult potentially one of the closest people to her intellect? It was extremely aggravating.

She carefully goes through the box on the trip back. Surprised to see so much intended to help Sergeant Barnes. She knew he was sending BARF across, but with how rigid his body language got whenever she slipped and mentioned the man on ice? She had not expected him to put so much in for him.

He hadn't told her what happened in Siberia, but the super soldiers came back beaten bloody, one missing an arm. Then Stark practically vanished off the face of the earth before a picture surfaced of the man, looking utterly battered and in a coma! It didn't take a genius to work out something had happened, but Dr Stark was oddly silent on the matter and if she believed a 10th of what the idiots said, literally every bad thing in the planet was caused by Dr Stark and nothing bad ever happened to him. She assumed the damage was from the other Winter Soldiers at first, but Dr Stark wouldn't have evaded if that was true and her brother had let slip that they'd been dead on arrival.

Entering her lab, she separated all of the BARF data and equipment to properly go through later. The information about Barnes and his arm she placed to the side. Not exactly thrilled with the prospect of looking through that. Considering how the writing on them went from neat to scratched quickly, that made her nervous of the contents, to say the least.

She focused on the other colourful post it notes for now, there were quite a few. For a man who hated paper, he seemed to love post it notes. His handwriting was also very pretty, his little doodles surprisingly detailed.

She affixed the one with the cat doodles where it was easily visible, wondering if the idiots would potentially recognise his handwriting next time they invaded her lab.

There was the actual data from Barnes arm included too. He'd been holding that back as they created their _prototype_. Not wanting to taint their project with Hydra. She'd let it slide that he'd had a sudden '_Awesome Idea_' to create a prosthesis based on the Winter Soldier's arm but without '_cheating_'.

She let him believe that she thought it was theoretical, but she knew that you don't just wake up from a coma and start a project on something like this whilst neck deep in the Accords for nothing. But she got the idea that Tony needed her to not know, and looking at how thin and small he had looked in that bed, his arm trembling slightly as it moved when he spoke animatedly. He needed her excitement on it but to not ask to many questions and that's what she'd done.

A small thing she could do however was to send a completely and utterly not related chunk of vibranium over to him under the guise of a get well soon present. If it just so happened to be the correct amount, plus a little leeway, for what he'd need to make their designs? Well that was just a happy accident wasn't it.

When he'd questioned such a grand gift, she'd waved it off as what else do you get the engineer with more money than God? If it also made him whole again... then all for the better, and hopefully someday he'd tell her what happened. She could see that he was brittle however, so for once she would not push. She did however enjoy conspiring with Harley and Peter in their group chat. Their plan seemed to be working, each time she chatted to Dr Stark he seemed less like he'd shatter if the wrong part was pressed. Adults could be so dense sometimes, so they had plotted.

She finished putting things to the side and called him up, it should early there but Peter had sent her picture of their pancake day an hour ago so she figured she would not be interrupting. There seemed to be more food on the adults than their plates, Tony was in the kitchen with his back to the camera and his black shirt was covered in white powder. Laura's hair was practicality white. She was looking forward to joining them some day for this tradition but hoped to be eating the food rather than wearing it.

An image of Tony popped up, he looked much better than he had on their last chat. He'd looked pretty good in the video clip he'd sent of him talking to her brother, but that was a side of the genius she'd never really seen before so seeing his easy smile was a relief.

He was all encouraging smiles and asking questions with her, and he never stopped her explaining things! There were a few times he asked her to explain it again, but slower! Considering he was meant to be an egotistical genius, he never talked over her, encouraged her and didn't get irritated the way others did when she got into something. Or as Dr Stark called it, _sciencing_. She was branching out into new topics she barely considered before she it was fun.

She brightly grinned, happy to see him smiling even though she could see he was tense around the shoulders. Maybe because of his location? Because that wasn't the lab. She couldn't see enough of the room to tell but it looked as if he was sitting at a table with a large floor to ceiling windows behind him. The glass was not perfectly clear however, making her think that from the outside you wouldn't see what was happening in said room. Peculiar.

"Hi Dr Stark! Your parcel arrived!"

"Yay, and Princess, we talked about this. You can call me Tony. By the end of this year I expect you and Peter to call me Tony!"

He waved his hands and had a look of mock consternation on his face, spoilt slightly by the wide grin of course. His shoulders however had already started to relax a little which just made her grin. She noticed that he was using both hands to gesture with, until now he'd only used his right, but it was skin coloured.. She added it to her observations of the man in her mind.

"Hmmm, maybe, but you will have to call me Shuri instead of Princess. Plus, not enough people use your Doctor title, it makes me want to use it more."

Tony's eyebrows shot up at that, she guessed quite easily who that look was for, she had noticed that the rogues rarely talked about him with any respect and she'd ranted about it often. The rogues loved to call him '_Stark_'. Usually barked in an unpleasant manner that she suspected the man hated. Especially from so called '_friends_'.

"Ah, to be perpetually underestimated. Of course, you know what it's like, Princess."

She laughed at his smirk, and oh yes she did. Especially the few times she had accompanied her brother to the Accords Council meetings. They saw a young, spoilt Princess, Tony had told her to play up the part and reap the rewards of being underestimated, whilst it had annoyed her at first, she could see why he made a game of it.

"The last council meeting was fun, I finally got to talk to your Rhodey! My brother was quite confused when he would only talk to me!"

The two of them laughed, she'd sent the clips to him at the time of course. They'd been subtly trolling her brother for weeks now but he seemed to be acting dense which was why she'd upped things today.

"Rhodey doesn't even know why I'm annoyed! How is King Kitty doing? Enjoy my presents?"

"He was utterly baffled about how you got them to us, I think he actually thought no one knew the idiots were here!"

"Well, just me and the kids know. They know not to blab. I don't want your brothers offer of generosity to hurt your home. Plus it is probably better for the planet that you have them contained."

Tony's smirk turned sharp at the thought of them and Shuri was surprised how expressive the man's face could be when wearing sunglasses. People always say the eyes give a lot away, but Dr Stark's facial expressions were very telling.

"I know, but they're so annoying. Rogers has asked me for a new shield twice this week alone. He me demanded it be vibranium too!"

"Oh what did you tell him this time?"

"I told him that I'm sorry he feels so afraid that he requires a shield but reminded him that Wakanda is well defended. He looked utterly baffled at my offense."

"I'm not shocked, they always wanted new gear and I don't think they noticed I personally made everything for them. It was just expected. Until I started working with my new guys I thought that was normal."

Tony shook his head and Shuri decided to shift the conversation away from the rogues.

"I think I might have dropped enough hints around my brother now that he might do more than just sulking about their presence. Oh, and expect some presents from him, he's finally realised you are mad at him!"

"Took him long enough, I was actually considering hiring a skywriter if the call didn't work."

"You did give him a plushy though."

She ribbed him gently, she knew that whilst he was mad at her brother over the rogues, that he didn't hate him. They'd gotten along quite well and whilst Tony hadn't found himself king of a country relatively young, he had found himself at the head of an empire alone and vulnerable quite young. Her brother had told her that the two of them had connected with that when they were between fights.

"Well, I don't hate his Royal Kittiness, he's still quite young and naive, especially when it comes to people all shiny like Rogers. Captain Spandex is easy to believe in his earnest way. When he realises that he lies as much as anyone else.."

Tony shrugged. She'd scanned the latest copy of the Vienna Accords that he'd sent, along with his own personal notes on it judging by the handwriting.

"I'm sure we can wake him up eventually, he was very angry when I left him. Maybe Mr Rogers is going to get a visit."

"Oh, that I HAVE to see!"

"I'll make sure to send you the footage, I, of course, will not be there. The Witch has taken to hanging on to him like a leech. Although it's had a knock on effect of them bothering me in my lab less since I banned the little witch from my presence."

Tony's laughs tapered off and a serious look crossed his face when it came to the Witch. He had different expressions for most of the rogues.

He was hard as ice, face and shoulders stiff, voice as cold as the Arctic when he talked about Rogers.

Harsh and brittle like glass when Barton came up, pain and guilt evident, although she didn't know why, but with how foul his mouth was she assumed he'd said something that crossed a line.

Lang and Wilson he was more… apathetic towards than anything else.

But the Witch, that was a mixture of fear and hatred had become more pronounced recently. The fear is what put her on edge about the Witch in the first place, which she was happy for because she'd caught her sneaking up to her with red glowing around her finger tips. That was after she had told them that she would not be making them gear for them to go galavanting around, and that if they left Wakanda they would not find it so easy to come back.

Nothing had happened, but that was only because she had stopped it she was sure. Tony had then told her enough about the Witch for her to easily assume the worst. About what she did to the Hulk. Rogers of course thought she was overreacting.

_'Wanda didn't do anything! Why have you barred her from your lab! She wasn't going to do anything to you, she's young and sometimes her emotions get the better of her and her powers manifest. It doesn't mean she was going to use them or hurt you!'_

So earnest, so stupid! Since then the guards made sure the little Witch was watched 24/7 when out of the villa and never allowed near her. Her brother was to always have a guard when she was near too, her powers were strong and made her uncomfortable. They could fight a lot in Wakanda, but they didn't have anything to protect against mind magic. The rogues of course didn't know they were under 24/7 surveillance in the villa, the cameras and mics were well hidden.

"She hasn't tried anything again has she? I don't know what I'd do if she got to you too."

Shuri gave him an encouraging smile and made a note to ask him more about the Witch at some point. It has to be more than what she did to the Hulk, something she could find no information on.

Unsurprisingly, as Tony had told her, Roger's had basically strong armed him into covering that up. Which she could tell hurt him badly. With how he talked about accountability, it was a serious thing to demand such a thing from him. The man was already a walking example of PTSD, something they were very familiar with in Wakanda being a warrior culture. Unlike America however, they'd decided to try and help rather than go this ridiculous route of doing nothing and pretending they are all fine. She knew that pointing that out would not get her very far, but she was willing to pay the long game.

She just _knew_ there was more to the Witch than that she was once an enemy who flipped sides. As close as Tony was to Bruce, she imagined there was more for him to have been so vehemently against her being an Avenger, Tony was all about second chances but he'd never looked comfortable discussing her.

"Nope" She grinned, popping the P. "She'd have to get within several buildings of me for that. Sometimes I go close to where ever they are, just to amuse myself with her being forced back to the villa."

Tony burst out laughing at that, he definitely looked better than when he had answered the call. She heard a noise in the background and Tony sat up, looking past the call.

"That's brilliant, Princess. I have to go for now, I hope you like the dress, Peter found that! Don't forget to occasionally take breaks and eat!"

"Ha, coming from you that is hilarious. Goodbye Dr Stark, I'll text you later with his response to BARF!"

She sniggered at the name and noticed him tense slightly at who they were talking about. But he carried on smiling, that was definitely an improvement, she waved and he crossed his arms over his chest in a bow making her smile as the call cut out.

After the call she set up bringing everything BARF related up. Deciding to go through everything and then to wake up the Sergeant. She sent a message using her beads, informing her brother of her plans and that he was not to tell the rogues. She wanted Sergeant Barnes to be able to breathe, take in the information and make an informed choice without the idiots breathing down his neck. Plus, he'd requested to be woken without them as he couldn't handle physical contact straight away, and Rogers was constantly touching him. He was her other white boy that she was going to fix.

Even though she wasn't going to be telling the man the tech belonged to Dr Stark, she wasn't going to pretend it was hers. She'll change his name in the documents to 'Outside Contractor', that should do.

Finishing everything up and checking it over several times, she decided everything was as good as it was going to get, she downloaded the information onto a tablet and went to wake up their resident snowman.

**T'Challa POV **

T'Challa had spent an hour waiting for his anger to calm down before he went to talk to anyone. It was hard, so he decided to try and find information of what Dr Stark had been up to since June.

For a man who practically lived in the public eye, there had been not a single public appearance of him in all this time. Which could potentially be explained away innocently at a stretch. Except there had been multiple news reports on Dr Stark taking the Accords by storm… But without his presence. Not even a recent picture. That was until he found reports and several articles that maybe Dr Stark was writing from his deathbed. Surely that was hyperbole.

There were several new releases of SI products, including stuff that revolutionised certain fields, all without Dr Stark hosting a press conference or going on TV. Just that press release from SI that he was healing with very little actual information.

Several reports of new Avengers being added, incidents they'd been involved in and again. Nothing. He'd always been the public face of the Avengers, the others seemingly not knowing how to deal with the press or not understanding it's importance.

He found information of Natasha being defended by Dr Stark's Lawyers and being under house arrest for 9 Months at the Avengers compound. Reading through the trial, there were statements from Dr Stark… But like the Accords Council, these were delivered by a slightly more stone faced Colonel Rhodes. He wondered if the rogues had realised that their little spider had gone back to the fold.. Last time he had spoken to Rogers about her, he was waiting for her to come back after an _information gathering mission._

He finally found an article with a picture of the man posted June and almost wished he hadn't. He found the same picture then in multiple articles. It didn't do anything for his anger.

He looked positively tiny in the hospital bed, wrapped up with multiple blankets and attached to many machines. It obviously wasn't a well staged picture, from the text a nurse snapped it with his phone and sold the picture before anyone could stop him. Dr Stark's face, at least what he could see of it as bandages were covering both of the man's eyes, was a mess of purple to green bruises. That he was in a coma didn't help matters. This was not the look of a person 'momentarily disabled'.

This was a baseline human that had been battered by at least one, potentially two super soldiers. He knew the Winter Soldiers had all been killed, there was no one else but the 3 of them. Whilst they came away beaten and bloody, they walked away from that fight and healed quickly, excluding Sergeant Barnes arm of course. The Captain had demanded a replacement made when they arrived in Wakanda, T'Challa had ignored his rudeness as stress from the current events, he now realised that maybe he shouldn't have forgiven so easily. Either way, the Sergeant had refused and promptly requested to go into cryo. Against the cries of the captain of course. He'd used the 2 weeks of preparation to constantly berate the poor man for his choice. T'Challa had found the Sergeant hiding out with the Dora Milaje on several occasions.

Rogers was still angry that he had abided by his friends wishes. Every 3 days like clockwork he would try to see T'Challa or Shuri to demand they release Bucky, as if they were keeping him prisoner. They reminded him that he did not wish to be removed from cryo until there was a firm plan to remove the words. Until now they had not found anything.

Reading his sisters message again it seemed that Dr Stark also wanted his involvement hidden. Pity, T'Challa would have enjoyed telling Rogers that their only salvation was a man they left comatose. His amusement dried a little at the thought he'd also left him in that condition. In _Siberia_! Whilst it wasn't winter, it had been a very cold spring. He stopped himself looking up the temperature because he didn't think that would calm him. A part of him was scared too, guilt already weighing his shoulders down.

He closed down his research when he realised he was now just stalling, when he found himself reading about new developments Dr Stark was making into prosthetics, disability aids, med-tech and clean energy, that several arc reactors were now installed around the world... Whilst this was amazing, it was clearly stalling.

The casing that protected the arc reactors from interference did interest him however and with the mention of Dr Stark's Nano-tech he wondered if it was one of the projects he had been collaborating on with his sister as it looked like they were Vibranium, he'd stalled at 6 due to lack of resources. Maybe they could work something out, the man's arc reactor was as precious as their Vibranium and if he was willing to put them into the world to help nations that needed it, then they could join in. He noted that some Americans were angry America had not been prioritised. Yes, definitely stalling.

He stood, smoothing down his suit and started heading towards the villa that was designated for the rogues. From their reaction on arrival he was sure they'd expected more, rooms in the Palace itself maybe? From Dr Starks note, he did mention he'd spoilt them. A mistake T'Challa would not be duplicating. Now with that warning he would be more vigilant. He had only offered sanctuary to Sergeant Barnes as recompense for his reckless actions, the others had followed like stray dogs as if they'd been invited, leading to a very awkward situation where he was now housing thankless fugitives. Thankless fugitives who had apparently been lying to him.

He entered the villa and made way to the common room that he could hear them in, they obviously had not heard his approach and were conversing, loudly. So he slowed down to listen in. He could hear the TV on an announcement he had read not that long ago, regarding SI recent developments causing quite a stir. Making leaps and bounds in regards to disability aids, a subject which usually had the least amount done for, charged high prices and then resolutely ignored. That SI was revolutionising a sector for such low prices was causing a huge stir. It was interesting the rogues were watching anything related to the man, surveillance had shown that they'd been avoiding him. Turning the channel anytime he was barely mentioned.

"I doubt it's even real. Just fake publicity to buy support! Change the channel."

Wanda's sneers always chilled him slightly, he wouldn't be shocked if she was pacing like a caged tiger. Red leaking from her hands. Oh if only he could do as his sister did. Her age the archer seem to be little better than barely contained rage these days

"Stark wouldn't do anything to help people without it helping himself."

That was the archer, he sounded more bitter every week that he was unable to contact his wife. Always crowing about the injustice of it. As if the man was shocked being an international fugitive in hiding came with restrictions.

"Ur, guys I know Hank always told me to never trust a Stark, but there were actual people on the show?"

"God Scott you're an idiot. They're paid actors!"

T'Challa was sure the Witch was pushing it now. Her bias pushing her towards stupidity.

"Guys, I know Stark isn't a good person, but faking creating disability aids and paying people to use them is a bit much. Plus I know some of the VAs pictured, it's why I was watching it, I didn't expect _this_. Some of the guys that got this help. They're real and this could change their lives."

The Falcon was the voice of reason it seems but still had to get his own jab in. Dr Stark being brought up must have blindsided them. T'Challa shook his head, they're like child bullies, intent to pick on someone not there to defend themselves.

"Can we stop watching about Stark anyway. Everytime I see the liar I want to punch the screen for what he did to Cap and Bucky. I preferred when we changed the channel everytime he was mentioned."

Well points to Sam just got revoked, Rogers mumbled something as if he wasn't paying attention. If they'd been ignoring all news pertaining to Dr Stark, they likely didn't know about the man's coma. Roger's was meant to be the leader of this team, yet he did nothing to stop them attacking a man doing good work? A supposed team member?

He wondered if the Captain had been taking his role seriously, to ensure the health and comfort of all the team was his job. T'Challa grits his teeth and decides he's heard enough and strolls into the room. All the heads snap to him, not even the super soldier hearing heard him coming he thinks utterly unimpressed with the man.

"Ah, I enjoyed watching that myself, the little girl getting to walk for the first time was quite inspiring, her dreams of getting to run some day were enough to melt anyone's heart."

T'Challa smiled, he partially mentioned that bit because it was adorable, but also because she'd chosen red and gold and had done a speech thanking Ironman for giving her this chance. All the kids had drawn pictures that would be sent to the man. Wanda hissed in response, pacing, and just as he suspected, leaking red from her fingers. His guards stepped forward, both of them focusing on her.

"Stark's just trying to buy himself out of his guilty conscience."

Clint sneered, Sam and Scott shaking their heads as Scott turned the television off.

"Whilst we are discussing Dr Stark, Captain, do you have anything to tell me?"

He goes from talking to the group to pinning the captain with his stare. His anger back after listening to them sneer and jab at the man. The Captain who had been sulking in a chair in the corner of the room snapped his head up. Since his friend went into Cryo the super soldier had let go of himself. The scuff on his face turning into quite a scraggly beard was looking quite strange on his face. Captain America had always been neat and clean shaven, so it seemed odd to him somehow.

"No, Why would I have anything to say about Stark?Has Bucky been woken up?"

T'Challa blinked at the change in conversation, but he shouldn't be shocked, every single time he spoke to the Captain he brought it back to his friend. Usually with more tact, but apparently today he didn't seem to notice he was being quite rude.

"Sergeant Barnes is still in Cryo, as per his wishes as we look into ways to help with the control words. Now as I wa-"

"You're not doing a very good job of it are you. We've been here for two months whilst you've been sitting on your arses."

"Mr Barton, I assure you we have not been, as you put it, 'sitting on our arses' when it comes to this. Unfortunately the brainwashing and seven decades of torture that Sergeant Barnes has been through, plus the unique ways and utterly barbaric technology that Hydra used are not something you can just snap your fingers and remo-"

"If he wasn't in Cryo, if he was with me, he would be getting better! I'd be able to help him be Bucky again!"

"If someone interrupts me again I will not feel bad removing roaming privileges!"

T'Challa snapped angrily.

"We aren't children! You can't do that!" Clint barked.

"Don't act like children and I shall not treat you like them. Mr Rogers, your presence would not be enough to he what has been done, and even if it could remove the words, your friend would still be fundamentally changed by his experiences."

T'Challa pleaded, hoping that Rogers would understand this, his delusion that the Sergeant could be magically healed by the power of friendship and would be exactly as he had been before he went to war, were utterly ridiculous and he was setting himself up for trouble. However the stubborn set to his jaw, the squaring of his shoulders, T'Challa knew it wasn't going to get through. His delusions would end up causing him pain, but he predicted it would be worse on the Sergeant somehow.

"Anyway. We are doing all we can for the Sergeant. We have all of our top scientists, my sister and outside contractors helping us out."

"Your kid sister? I don't imagine she'd be and to help much, and what outside sources, aren't we meant to be hiding?"

"Shockingly, we have put a lot into keeping yourselves a secret. Housing international fugitives isn't exactly good for us!"

T'Challa snapped. Sick of being dragged off topic by a petulant Clint Barton. Sam seemed to sense that T'Challa was nearing his limit and decided on silencing Clint. Pulling him away and allowing him to focus on Rogers.

"Now. Captain. I'm going to ask you again. What. Happened. In. Siberia."

Rogers obviously was frustrated with this line of questioning. '_Probably cause it didn't have anything to do with Barnes_' T'Challa thought.

"I've already told you about this! Me and Bucky, who was fine by the way. Went to Siberia to stop five other Winter Soldiers. They were dead. Then Stark turned up.."

Wilson's scoff could be heard as he scowled at this point. From what T'Challa knew, Dr Stark knew where to go based on his information.

"He just flipped out and attacked Bucky. He was going to kill him, so I had no choice but to fight him. I temporarily disabled the suit after Stark literally blew Bucky's arm off! Then we made our get away. That's it."

This time, T'Challa gets the sense that Rogers is leaving out something. His frustration seems to be ruining the earnest goodness the man usually projected. Plus, no way did a temporarily disabled suit result in a coma, and Dr Stark being out of the limelight for so long. Plus the words his sister said to him.. Dr Stark's words seemed to resonate in his skull. He'd only heard them once, but he guessed that they wouldn't leave him be for a long time.

"I have a feeling that you are lying to me Mr Rogers."

All of the rogues instantly jumped to their captains defense, as per usual. They were so adamant at shouting at T'Challa, who was ignoring them completely, that they didn't see the flash of guilt flash across his face, Sam might have however, as T'Challa noticed him looking confused at his Captain instead of shouting. He wondered what Rogers was thinking to summon such a look of guilt from the man who honestly believed the _'safest hands were his own_', that he could do no wrong. He raised a hand, silencing the others.

"He left me to die, then he took them in."

Rogers paled, the others looked confused from what he could see in his peripheral vision. Rogers face was more telling however.

"That is what Dr Stark told my sister. So tell me, why a conscious man in an operating suit would say these words?"

"Because Stark's an over dramatic asshole."

"Yeah, he has to make everything about himself, Bucky came back with only 1 arm! They would have been perfectly right leaving him to die!"

Clint first, backed up by Wand, again. T'Challa rolled his eyes. Not even bothering to reply to them.

"There is also the picture of him spending nearly two weeks in a coma which you might have noticed if you were actually paying attention to the world."

T'Challa still watched the utterly silent Rogers, he was still stubbornly looking at him, obviously unwilling to change his story. The king sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, he shouldn't have expected much really. Rogers had already lied and let that lie stand for the entire time he was here. At least this wasn't entirely futile, his sister awakening the Sergeant in secret to discuss his treatment could work in his benefit.

There were three people there that night in Siberia. One was not talking to him for aiding his abuser, the other was a self righteous liar apparently, ruining the image in his mind of the Captain America he's expected. He hoped the Sergeant was as good of a person as he has judged him to be in the short time they'd conversed alone, before Rogers forced his way into the conversation. All he wanted to do was apologise to the man. He would ask the Sergeant before anyone knew he had been awakened.

"Rogers. This matter is not closed. Secrets… Secrets will always find a way out."

T'Challa doesn't know how, but THAT touched a nerve. Rogers practically full on body flinched, his face a grimace as he turned and made his way back to the corner of the room, practically dismissing the King. Now, whilst T'Challa hadn't demanded to be treated like a King, but the rudeness was now grating on him after so many weeks of it. The rogues rudeness, especially Rogers to everyone was grating on the Dora too, in fact they were already livid before today, now he could see the anger on their faces openly.

Clint and Wanda were glaring daggers at him, as if he was the one being awful. Wanda went to comfort Rogers. Scott was looking supremely uncomfortable and Sam looked slightly confused at Rogers. As if the idea that Rogers might be lying was something he had never considered happening. Scott spoke up while everyone else let the awkward, angry silence sit.

"Uh, Thankyou for visiting your majesty! And, uh, thanks, you know, for this lovely house, and feeding us and keeping us safe. It's very kind of you. Sorry about everyone today, I think everyone is just stressed?"

Scott had a kind of goofy, but sincere sort of grin on his face, Clint was staring at him like he had done something utterly objectionable. Scott's thanks, whilst stilted was nice to hear at least. Apparently some of these people were allergic to saying thanks. T'Challa nodded and smiled at the man.

"You are very welcome Mr Lang. I hope you have been enjoying your stay."

"Oh yeah! This place is amazing, I just wish my little girl could see it…"

He trailed off and even though he was in a situation of his own making, he did feel pity for the man.

"If you would like, I could have a digital camera of a sort sent to you? That way you could start collecting images that you could give to your daughter when you return home?"

"That.. That would be amazing! Thank you Your Majesty"

Scott was now vibrating with the idea and T'Challa couldn't help but smile, of course Clint had to but in. With a demand in an angry tone, glaring at T'Challa all the while.

"Yeah. I'll take one too. I have three kids I'm missing after all."

T'Challa raised his eyebrows at the impertinence. He also made a note to lock whatever device he sent to only be used while Scott was holding it and have his guards inform him if the archer stole or broke it out of spite. Even Scott looked vaguely disgusted at the archers demands.

"I'm sorry Mr Barton. Right now you should be grateful that I'm not moving you to different accommodation. If you don't learn some respect soon that accommodation will be far less comfortable than what you are currently enjoying."

T'Challa nodded before he turned on his heal to leave. Not waiting for the idiot to respond. He didn't bother sticking around to listen to them bitch about him either. He messaged his sister to find out if he would be able to see the Sergeant, as much as he disliked the idea of jumping the poor man not long from cryo, he only had a small window of time before Rogers could get in there and potentially get their stories straight. He also told her to check the surveillance so she could see this conversation, maybe it would make her laugh at least for all the good it had done.

**Barnes POV**

Pain.

Pain racked through his body as it could feel itself coming back from the floating darkness that it retreated to during cryosleep.

'No. No. No. No. No. Not again.'

It started shaking, partially because of the cold that clung, even as the air around it was warming up. The pain clouded its mind, but it knows soon the door will open.

The Asset would fall onto the hard concrete as it did everytime. Its limbs never worked properly at first. More pain. As if there wasn't enough of it from being wrenched from frozen to awake so fast.

The asset shook its head. It was thinking too much. Thinking this much would lead to missing orders, thoughts were intrusive, thoughts were wrong. It was a blank slate, ready for compliance. The asset would end up being punished if it didn't stop this. If it missed to much he'd need to be recalibrated. No, no, whitehotpainpain.. Compliance. Compliance. That's what it needed.

His mind felt heavy and slow like it was full. What? His? He wasn't a person, it was a weapon. But there were so many memories now. What had happened to it.. him? There were just so many and he felt like he was drowning in them. There was never this much to remember even when it complied and avoided recalibration for multiple missions.

The door still hadn't opened, which was strange but at least the handlers wouldn't notice something was wrong. Names swam up to it, him!?

Every name felt like a shot fired.

Bucky? The memories told it that it was its name. But it didn't have a name. It didn't feel like it belonged to him. Who did these memories belong to?! Why had they been shoved into his mind? They didn't feel like they were his. It was like watching a home movie of someone you've never even met. Awkward and uncomfortable.

There was a hiss that signalled the door unlocking. He had no idea why his new handlers were taking so long but he could actually feel his legs. He might even be able to stand when the door opened. Warmth rushed in when it did, causing him to stumble a bit, but he definitely didn't fall over. He waited for hands to grab at him roughly. To shove at him and drag at him. But nothing came. Instead of white coats and stone cold faces, there was just one person. She was young. Too young. There were no guns pointed at him. He could take her out…

But she was smiling at him?

"Sergeant Barnes? Do you remember where you are?"

Something clicked in his head at that.

Wakanda.

Everything from DC rushed into place. Crammed in with all of his memories from before. He clutched his head. It was too much. Worse than the memories coming in spits and spats from the apartment. It was just all there now. Not everything was there he could tell, it just broke off, like a tear in the fabric after he fell. Then it's black, black, but not empty and the memories after feel different. There are bits. Blood, pain, death. Something surged up in his mind and then.. Nothing. Like something shielding him, maybe the treatments Shuri had mentioned to help heal his mind. Leaving him dizzy but not like he was drowning anymore.

"Wakanda?"

"Yes! Great! We were worried the subconscious treatments for your memories might create some confusion when you woke up if you remember?"

He nodded. Remembering now, shaking his head and trying to push the Asset mindset aside. There are no recalibrations, no punishments here. No chair.

"It was a bit confusing there for a minute, waking up in Cryo has never been… Fun."

Shuri smiles and walks him towards a bed and he sits down. Thankfully it's only a few steps. Glad to be off his feet, it was never easy being forced to stand straight out of cryo. He went to reach out with his arm and got a fiery stab of feedback in his mind, reminding him when had happened to his arm.

Shuri had removed as much as he'd been able to sit through and the whole thing was covered by a silicone stretchy cap to protect it and let him shower. He'd refused anything else, an arm down wasn't much of a fighting handicap to him, but it was something. Plus, No matter what Steve demanded, he didn't want that torture device back on his body. The reduced pain already almost had him floating.

"How... How long?"

"Only a few months, its currently the 9th of September."

He nodded, that felt about right, he could usually tell when he'd been in the chamber for longer periods of time.

"I'll just leave you be for a little bit, there are some clothes on the bed and a bathroom to the side. There is a drink too, the doctors don't recommend you try solid food until a day at least and slowly after! I'll be back in half an hour!"

He tried not to think less of himself for sitting confused for a while whilst he remembered units of time.

He had to look into those old memories for it, the Asset timed things in missions and when he needed to drink the vile fuel packs. He staggered to the bathroom, constantly reminding himself that this is fine. He could have a hot shower and not be punished, no more freezing cold buckets of water by stone faced hydra guards.

When Shuri gets back he's changed and sitting on the bed in some facsimile of relaxation. He tried to relax, just after dressing and found he wasn't able until he did a full perimeter check of the room. The cryo chamber had vanished whilst he'd been in the bathroom, presumably back to the room he remembered going into it in. This was more like a medical facility. A very fancy one. No one said he could leave the room so he hadn't gone into the hall and the other bed was empty. Even so, there was a curtain pulled around his bed for privacy. He heard Shuri coming down the hall, her footsteps are quite distinctive. He put some more effort into looking relaxed as the young girl always seemed upset when he was uncomfortable, he remembered that from when he'd been practically dumped in her lab and she only called him 'White boy', even then she'd noticed when he was uncomfortable and he didn't want to upset her. She'd helped him stand up to Steve about his choice to go into cryo.

"Sergeant Barnes! You look much better now."

"Thank you Princess, if you don't mind me asking.. Why am I awake.. " _and how did you make Steve stay back and give me a chance to get my head straight?_ He thinks quietly to himself. He'd suspected Steve would have dragged him out of the chamber.

"Well, we agreed to let you go back on ice until we came up with a solution to the problem with the code words, an outside contractor that I collaborate with just sent me something that has a really good chance at helping with the words and your time as a POW. As I'm sure you can feel, the subconscious treatments and healing was only able to bring back your memories from before? There is a block from anything past that. You have some of those memories you got back yourself, but we ran into problems with it, we hope this new tech will help with these issues."

He nodded along, that was a lot to take in. He'd honestly gone back into cryo never expecting to be woken up again. He suspected what Hydra had done to his head would never go away, he'd always be at risk of being triggered and attacking innocents. He'd admit that after Siberia he didn't even know if he wanted or deserved help. He and Steve battered a non enhanced person in grief for God's sake. '_Never mind that he's a walking tank_..' He shoved that thought down.

Either way, he didn't feel good about it, nor about all the damage and pain he'd caused running from T'Challa. T'Challa had taken the blame for chasing him and Steve said he'd just temporarily disabled the suit, that Stark was fine. That Stark was not a nice guy anyway, rude and arrogant. The others had told him a lot about their previous team mate and he was honestly confused why they were on a team with someone who was so detrimental to them?

But a memory of the two of them, almost shadowed out by the brightness of the snow, Steve on top, he couldn't remember if Stark's arm was up or protecting his neck, he didn't know what was worse. Possibly that he'd just let Steve take him away without looking back. Yeah, that was the worst. It doesn't matter how rude someone is, he didn't deserve that. He killed the man's parents for God's sake, that had to affect someone's life. He wondered how old he'd been left orphaned. The influx of his past memories had him feeling even worse about it. If he'd just watched his ma die in front of him, he would have attacked first, question later.

"Lots of memories in here now, kind of like a home movie that belongs to someone else. I can go in and find stuff I need, it's kind of weird. With Hydra though, it's.. Spotty. I remember remembering some memories but it's like something has pulled them away…"

He trailed off, '_protecting_' came to his mind but he didn't know where from. But it was easy to ignore, his brain was mush, he doubted it would make sense.

"Well, we aren't going to rush you. Everything about the treatment is on this tablet, it's all explained too but if you get stuck, you use that button there and you can type messages to me. I'll answer any questions I can, if I can't I'll pass them on to the outside contractor."

He nodded, idly wondering who this outside contractor was that they came up with something Wakanda didn't have.

"I'll have a read through, my knowledge of tech is spotty. They only updated me on what I needed for missions. Bucky isn't as useful for this, and unless it's a security system I'm not either. "

He shrugged, happy the Princess wasn't calling him out on being weird, looking at the tablet. It was kind of amazing, he poked around and realised there was a lot of information on here! They gave him phones but they didn't have much on, the asset didn't need to know, only do.

"This tablet is yours now anyway, it's also connected to the Internet and lots of TV channels too so you don't have to be bored when you go to the villa."

"Villa?" he was half paying attention and half glued to the tablet which seemed to be highly amusing to Shuri.

"Yes, Mr Rogers was adamant about you moving into the villa with the others. You don't be too go though… If you want you can stay at the Palace.."

She trailed off, letting him think that he wasn't sure about the team either, some of them seemed okay? Some seemed full of jagged edges, ready to stab any that came close and others set his teeth on edge. Not exactly a calm environment to feel through the memories.

He wanted to find out who he was now he wasn't an Asset anymore, now he wasn't Bucky. To learn how to be human again. However, what little he'd seen so far of the memories when thinking about Steve, and his experience of running from the man post DC… he'd hidden for a reason and just because he'd been forced out by circumstances didn't mean that those reasons weren't still valid. Staying in the Palace wasn't an option though. Princess Shuri and King T'Challa, Okoye, several of the Dora Milaje he'd talked to in the brief interludes free of Steve… he liked?

Yeah, he liked them.

They were kind, they smiled at him without expectations. They just talked without demanding he remember things. Even with the memories there now, he didn't really want to talk about them. They were so far in the past, he knew intrinsically he was not that person. True he didn't know who he was, but he knew who he wasn't. He wasn't even that person after he was drafted, let alone his first capture. It was like having different people in his head from different times. When the too big Stevie rescued him he'd already been fracturing, but he couldn't say it. Back then that would have got him locked up. Had to be OK. Had to be fine.

"Nah, it's okay Princess, we both know what will happen if I stay away. I'll.. Have m' own room though right..? I… would like a place that is mine? That no one can enter without my say so?"

"Of course! I've already set it up. Rogers tried to make people move around as you have the entire top floor with its own bathroom, and the others have single rooms on the other floors. He wanted you in his room or next to it. But your therapist, me and T'Challa were adamant that you needed a secure place. The rooms are locked down and your thumbprint will open it. The only others who can get in is me or my brother, but I assure you we will only use that in emergencies."

He blinked. That sounded… Frankly amazing. He can't believe how much these siblings have gone to bat for him. Even against Steve. It also shocked him how they preempted his request.

"That sounds amazing. I can share a building if I have my own place."

Him smiling about it just made Shuri happier. They started talking for about an hour and he slowly relaxed. Shuri teaching him the ins and outs of the tablet, that only he could operate it if any of the others tried to be nosy apparently._ 'Really, how badly have they pissed her off?'_ Anytime she mentioned the others her face darkened, he found out it had only been around 2 months! How had the others, how had Steve been that awful in such a short time to make Shuri so angry?! Stevie was kind and polite, well, when he wasn't fighting anyway. These people opened their country to them, risked a lot for no reason other than to help him. Him.

A person who had ruthlessly killed many, many innocents in the last century. Changed the course of more political events than he even wanted to consider. Steve could say it wasn't him till the cows came home. It was his hands. His body. He did it to avoid punishment. To avoid recalibration. Saying '_it wasn't you Buck!_' just made him feel worse. Made him feel powerless. He'd ignored what he'd done and then come face to face with the consequences of those actions. Sticking his head in the sand was an awful idea.

The Princess and King didn't say that to him, they just told him he had been through more than most people could imagine and that they wanted to help him. It was hard to accept, but it was easier than just ignoring the blood on his hands. Ignoring it seemed disrespectful, Steve's way was to just disregard the innocents he killed. The lives he irrevocably changed and destroyed. It just made him.. uncomfortable.

"Okay, I have to get back to my lab, but T'Challa should be here soon to see you and he's going to see you to your new rooms!"

"But… but he's the King! I can't… I can't expect him to take time out for just me?"

"Maybe I want to Sergeant Barnes?"

He jumped a little, he'd been so caught up in panicking about the idea of an actual, literal King seeing him to his room. Because what the hell?! That he hadn't heard the near silent, purposeful steps of the King coming up to the door. T'Challa had stayed just outside the door until he looked at him hower. Eyes open in shock. Flicking his wet hair out of his eyes. The Princess tutted and looked at his hair whilst he was freaking out.

"Hm, do you want me to get your hair out of your face?"

His capability to be freaked out over this situation just gave up the boat at the idea of a Princess doing his hair. He bit back a laugh. A King seeing him to his room. Princesses being his hairdresser. Okay, things couldn't get weirder. And that was coming from a regularly frozen brain washed super soldier assassin from the 40s.

"Um, OK, we can try?"

Shuri nodded, she had worked out 5 minutes into seeing him that people touching him was bad and had repeatedly whacked anyone who came close to him in the lab, it had been hilarious and one of his new favourite memories was Clint hopping on one leg.

She telegraphed her moves and very slowly moved to him, she even awkwardly stood to the side, even though he knew it would be move comfortable for her to stand behind him. She touched his shoulder very lightly at first, testing the waters. He was quite shocked when he didn't flinch. Every time someone had touched him it felt like he was crawling out of his skin. Maybe the subconscious thingy fixed that? Maybe it was because she'd asked first? That he had some control over it? He knew if he changed his mind halfway she'd stop instantly.

No pressure.

That she wouldn't be upset or angry with him. Maybe it was all of that? Maybe he should stop analysing himself into a hole? The usual Hypervigilance of the Asset was broken somehow. It was still there, he was still on alert but there was no… filter now. The exits were ranking the same as a blue book left on a table, it was maddening.

She seemed happy with his reaction and he couldn't help but lean into the contact. Physical contact had equalled pain for so long. He'd almost forgotten what it was to be touched in kindness. Sure he had memories now but he couldn't feel anything from them. He could only watch them. This felt new. Brand new, like no one had ever touched him in kindness before, and it was his choice. He could make choices. Sure Bucky Barnes had been touched in kindness. Sure Bucky Barnes had choices. But that didn't take away the 'new' feeling. The Princess was putting something in his hair and gently running her fingers through it. T'Challa entered the room slowly. Smiling and passing his sister a comb. Just watching quietly.

He felt.. Safe? Comfort too. Words that had no meaning attached to them suddenly did. They went from a dull sepia to vibrant in his mind. He leaned back, hearing Shuri chuckle as he hummed slightly and she combed his hair. Despite the knots, she never once let it pull against his scalp. The feeling of her braiding his hair was new, it didn't tug at any of the sepia memories and that made him smile more. It meant it was purely his. Whoever he was. He was almost sad when she finished. He gave her a warm smile this time and it felt less like he was putting it on.

"That was nice."

"Well then, looks like I'm going to be doing your hair for the time your here, just means you'll have to visit me daily! Bye now!"

She grinned, slipping out of the room before he could say anything about her not having to do that! Surely she'd be too busy to see him daily..?

"I'd just go with it. She loves playing with people's hair and she has developed quite the soft spot for you."

The King grinned, sitting on one of the stools about the same height as the bed.

"But.. She's a Princess, surely she has more important things to do than helping me with my hair?"

He ran his hand over the complex feeling braid, nothing like the plaits he used to do for his sisters when he checked the memory. No this was much more than that, it felt really nice to just run his hand over it and he found himself wanted to look in the mirror. Something that he had avoided when he'd showered. He looked different to the him in his memories. Like Stevie vs Steve, but he hadn't shot up several feet. He was taller, his features seemed more.. Strong and defined. He'd avoided looking more than that because the differences made his head swim. Now however he wanted to look, this was him, not Bucky. They were different so he could look different couldn't he?

T'Challa seemed to be sensing his thoughts somehow and put a small mirror next to him in the bed. Like Shuri he seemed to do things intentionally not to put expectations on him. They did it so easily too it amazed him. He couldn't let his guard down entirely, but felt some of the tension just leak out of him. The constant data of the environment settled to a quiet hum. He did pick up the mirror to look at what the Princess had done and was amazed at how complex it looked. It kept his face free and it was nice feeling.

He even liked how his face looked with it. All he had to do was remind himself that he and Bucky were different and the panic that had clawed at his throat when he saw the mirror in the bathroom was not going to overwhelm him. It was still there, but it wasn't everything. The lack of it left him feeling floaty again. He decided that wasn't good, he couldn't let anyone sneak up on him again. He had a last look before letting his senses return to their hypervigilant state whilst conversing with the king.

"I think she sees you as important, plus, she likes you. She won't enter the villa so having you visit her will make her happy."

"Why won't she visit the villa?"

"Ah, there was an incident with one of the Captains people. Wanda. She refuses to go near her now, the Captain complains about it often. As if my sister is being unfairly cruel and persecuting the girl."

T'Challa almost growled whilst he spoke the last part and a feeling of rage surged up inside him. Anger, rage and a touch of terror. Weird. He had no idea where it came from but he managed to keep it down, he'd not known the Princess long but he cared for her. Maybe protectiveness? It was weird being an adult and practically learning emotions but the fact he could feel them was wonderful enough to ignore the strangeness. Yes, he didn't want her hurt, so he would be angry at the source? That made sense. He made a decision and decided he would visit her when she wanted. T'Challa seemed pleased and amused by.

"Then I'll make sure to visit her often so she won't have to go near her. "

"That will make her very happy. And if she's happy, she will prank me less."

He found himself laughing with the king. He knew that this was his too, Bucky had never laughed with a king being pranked by a Princess. Because what the fuck, seriously.

"As loathe as I am to ruin our good mood, would you mind answering some questions before I take you to your new dwelling?"

He tilted his head, a little nervous about what he was going to ask. The very obvious _'Before Steve arrives_', went unsaid. He still felt safe with the King. He could say no. He knew the king would accept his no too which helped him say yes.

"Of course, your majesty."

"Well my first question is for you to call me T'Challa, I'd like for us to be friends?"

He nodded quickly, he liked that idea. It felt a bit awkward, the man was a king. A KING.. that was chatting and asking he use his name. Yeah, this was definitely a new, not Bucky thing.

"I'll try to remember, T'Challa.."

"What would you like me to call you?"

"Urm… I don't know?"

He pulled his shoulders in. It was embarrassing to say you didn't know something even kids know. T'Challa seemed to sense that and immediately tried to put him at ease.

"Hm, how about I'll stick to Barnes for now and when you pick a name, you tell me and I'll use that?"

He breathed out. That worked. A whole weight vanished off his shoulders. He would find a name, but he didn't have to do it right now. He could find out who he was first.

"I'd like that."

"Well, what I wanted to ask was for more details about Siberia? I didn't have a chance before you went under."

"Did.. Did Steve not tell you?"

T'Challa immediately looked uncomfortable and something cold went down his spine. Suddenly very concerned.

"He told me.. something, but in light of recent information I have a feeling he is… leaving out pertinent information."

He had a feeling it was worse than leaving bits out. From the King's body language he could see he was uncomfortable but he could also see anger. It was hidden carefully, but he could see it flashing in the King's eyes.

"You think he lied?"

"Possibly. I hate to put you on the spot like this I know he's your best friend after all."

"I don't know if he is? He was Buckys. But I don't know him. He doesn't know me, I don't think he even wants to know me, but maybe I'm not being fair?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, watching concern flash in the King's face. He had gotten this sense from Steve before he went into cryo. Steve was fine as long as he got the memories correct, when he failed, he got upset and it just felt too much like failing a handler.

That was before he got the memories back. He cared more about him remembering than the fact remembering was scary and painful. He constantly kept talking about things he should try to remember even when he'd half begged him to just give him time. Just keeping up with his journal was hard enough. That had all ramped up after he'd mentioned cryo.

"I understand, I hope he will be more understanding when you meet up again. But, if he is ever too much, all you have to do is ask one of the guards that are outside the house 24/7 and they will get you away, either somewhere on your own or to me or Shuri."

He could see the steel in the man's spine, usually he would wave off such a gesture. Having 2 royals come to him because he was feeling a bit overwhelmed seemed a bit much. The strength of how he said it though had him nodding. Maybe this is what it felt like when someone cared about you? Maybe Steve would be like this now? He didn't know this new Steve, he should give the man a chance.

"What was it you wanted to ask about Siberia?"

"Ah, Steve told us that Dr Stark arrived, attacked yourself, so he intervened which was how you lost your arm. Steve left Dr Stark temporarily disabled and then you both departed. I've since received information that has me concerned about how Dr Stark was left, what do you remember? "

_What?_! Did Steve just leave all the important parts out or something? He was angry that Steve had lied to a man generous enough to take him in. Why would he do that? He decided he needed to make up for this so tried to think back. To bring the memory up. He avoided the start of the fight. Skittered away from the video. The fight was a bit.. Blurry. Memories in flashes. He didn't remember fighting as such, he remembered screaming in his mind that he didn't want to fight. But he'd fought anyway, instinct drilled into him by Hydra. After his arm was blasted off, things were a bit clearer and yet not at the same time. He didn't fight, but it was pain, white hot and sharp. He'd stayed on the ground, leaving his back to Stark. He'd only intervened again to try to stop the fight but he wondered if he'd just made it worse.

Also, Doctor? Steve and the others had just called him Stark. His designation as Threat Level Alpha* by Hydra told him a lot about the man, his intelligence has been noted. He was to be avoided at all cost even allowing mission failure to avoid him, which even Alpha Threats didn't have. Only to be captured if they were capable of actually containing him. He had a brief flash that people who crossed him like this didn't survive for long. So there was something different about the man than the usual Hydra enemies.

"He arrived and Steve was ready to fight.. But they talked and they had a truce. To deal with the Soldiers together.."

He wrung his hands, talking about this was uncomfortable, plus bits of the fight were plain missing, he didn't want to discuss them incase he got it wrong, so he jumped to after his arm he decided. That was the information T'Challa was after anyway.

"My arm.. The pain clouded things slightly after it.. Well, got blown off. After that I just stayed down Steve had him on his back.. I think. I saw Steve throw his helmet. Stark was down, Steve on top. I can't remember If Stark reached up to him.. Or if his arms were covering his face? Or neck. Sorry this sounds disjointed.. "

"It's OK, I know how things can be in battle, moving fast and slow all at once. Especially after such an injury."

T'Challa had leaned forward, listening intently, he could see his shoulders tense.

"Steve slammed the shield into the power source. He told me it was the only way to stop him? To stop the suit, but that it would be OK. The blue light faded… Steve said the armour kept him safe. That he was fine, just powered down? "

He didn't sound sure about it himself. He'd let Steve draw him away because the pain. He was scared and the memories of killing the Stark's were so fresh he couldn't think past it. He was also scared about being in Hydra base in the first place. The faked calm he'd had coming had gone.

"I.. I did not want to fight, but I just reacted? I know it's not an excuse, beating a grieving man is just wrong, I didn't want to fight you for the same reason but I couldn't run from him trapped in the base."

The anger and compassion for him that had been warring itself across the Kings features suddenly dipped into confusion and that when he remembered. Steve had told him that he attacked for no reason.

"He didn't attack us for no reason. Zemo, had a video. He played it in front of the 3 of us when he was safe behind blast doors."

"A video?"

"It was CCTV footage from the night the Starks were killed."

He was wringing his hands, he'd never wanted to see himself doing that. His face blank, throttling a woman. But his pain was nothing compared to the pain of a child watching his parents get murdered.

"The Starks died in a car crash didn't they? Why would Zemo have a video of that?"

"I can't believe Steve didn't tell ya. They didn't die of a car crash. They were murdered. By the Winter Soldier. By me."

T'Challa sucked in a breath and a pained expression crossed his face.

"And then Dr Stark attacked you?"

"No, no… He asked Steve. If he knew. Steve tried to lie, say he didn't know it was ah.. Me."

He flinched, hearing Stark's words in his head.

_'Don't bullshit me Rogers!' _

"Oh Bast…"


	6. Chapter 6 - Secrets Will Damn Him

**Secrets Will Damn Him**

**Barnes** ** POV**

**_9th September_**

"Steve finally said he known. Stark.. He hit Steve, open handed. I.. I shouldn't have fought back I just.."

He gripped his head, he really didn't want to be remembering all of this and it was taking all of his focus to stay in English, to not slip into Russian. Steve's reactions to him doing that had not been positive and he didn't want to risk annoying anyone else. T'Challa came over to him, standing close but not touching.

"Barnes, it's okay, with everything that happened to you, you said it yourself you couldn't _not_ fight back. _You_ were not Dr Stark's friend. _You_ hadn't been hiding this secret."

T'Challa hissed, anger obvious in his words and that just made him hunch down more. T'Challa sucked in a breath, forcing himself to calm down, he could hear his heart slowing from the increased rate since he had started his story.

"Barnes, May I?"

T'Challa had a hand raised towards his shoulder, not close enough to crowd him, but with the offer of comfort. He nodded, not feeling able to speak with the fight going around and around in his head.

_This_ was why he ran.

_This_ was why he'd hid in that apartment.

It was why he had run from Steve as much, if not more, than he had from Hydra.

He was dangerous.

He wasn't in control.

He killed.

He just.. Didn't want to fight. He didn't want to kill anymore. At least not for these reasons. He didn't want to hurt _innocent_ people. He didn't want to hurt _good_ people. T'Challa very slowly put one hand on his shoulder first. And very slowly pulled him into a loose hug, with the ability to pull out. That care let him just collapse.

"Barnes, it's OK. If Steve had told Dr Stark before that night, if he hadn't found out by being forced to watch the tape with you right there… this could have gone much differently, if only others had made different decisions. Not you. I'm sure with time and separation Stark will know that. "

"Pretty sure he hates me. He has every right to despise me. To want to kill me. But he didn't and I don't understand why? I helped Steve beat on an unenhanced man in grief. What kind of person does that make me?"

"Makes you human, I chased and tried to kill a man who'd been through hell for a near century. I ignored all council, I caused damage that lead to deaths in my reckless pursuit of revenge. What does that make me Barnes?"

"That's.. That's different."

"Parts maybe, but we all make mistakes. You are putting in effort to clear the triggers from your mind, you are remorseful. If you are waiting for me to yell or hurt you, you will be waiting a very long time Barnes.

"No one in this came out clean."

He scoffed and just leaned into T'Challa. He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that. But he eventually sat up. He wanted to talk to the king more without coming across as a pathetic idiot. In the chaos of remembering even the back of his mind had gone silent.

So he breathed deeply a few times, focused on the memory of feeling of Shuri's hands in his hair and eventually offered a small smile to the king. He was happy to find the king offering him a wide one in return.

He went to continue the conversation about what happened in Siberia but T'Challa wasn't having any of it and kept changing the topic on him.

He got a feeling that the king wasn't finished with this, but as far as he was concerned, he had enough information from him and he_ 'would not be the means of which he punished himself by_'. Which made some kind of sense and eventually convinced him to talk about lighter things that were not so guilt fueled.

T'Challa also seemed to just really enjoy telling him about Wakanda, it was obvious the young King cared deeply for his people and his land. He didn't think it would be possible after just reliving that fight, but T'Challa had him laughing too.. Right up until he heard feet, angrily stomping down the hall. He shot an alarmed look over at T'Challa who had also heard. His easy smile slipped into what he was calling the _T'Challa King Face_. An easy smile but he went from a friendly chatting person to a man with a presence around him. It impressed him how easily he pulled this on. He could see the anger in his eyes however, he might not have realised it if they hadn't been talking before hand, but he was very angry at the approaching person.

Quite understandable really given everything he'd gleaned from his stilted descriptions .

At his panic however, T'Challa glanced at the curtain leading to the bathroom just to the side. It wasn't much, but it gave him an option. He mouthed 'sorry' grimacing at the fact he was abandoning his new friend to his old friend, Steve, who was _his_ problem.

Who he apparently was _still_ running from.

He wondered if he'd ever stop running from the man his best friend had turned into.

Or if this new Steve would even stop chasing the ghost who he once was.

He couldn't just leave T'Challa to deal with Steve. A man so kind and nice that he was protecting them, housing them, feeding them, doing everything with zero recompense. Yes, if he saw Steve without calming down he was going to punch him or pass out, but still. It felt like cowardice. His hand clenched into a fist as he slipped silently behind the curtain and into the bathroom. He would listen. He wasn't utterly running away, he could easily step into the room and surely that meant _something_.

Steve burst into the room, he heard the door slam open with the excessive force he used to open it, making him flinch even from his hiding spot. Happy he hadn't been in the main room for that, it was bad enough when it was muffled. He can hear the _anger_ in his voice. He can't believe how rude he is being, the Stevie from his memories would never have done something like this. Neither of their ma's would have stood for it. He feels nauseated again, like he has everytime he tries to compare Steve and Stevie in his memories. So he simply slams the memories back down.

This big Steve seems to have lost some of the best qualities of little Stevie and has picked up some that he doesn't like.

Stevie always had to shout to he heard, to use multiple skills to be seen. The kid was a master at reading body language and just seemed to _know_ things because of it. Steve seems to have traded all of this in, now he doesn't have to fight to be heard, people just listen. But the punk is still fighting! Now however, his power, size and strength are vastly increased, leaving an air of impending violence that has more of a threat to it.

When he was Stevie, solving problems with his fists didn't seem as.. Drastic? Or even menacing as it did now. Before he looked up to people, beseeching them to listen. Now he looms over, demanding their attention or _else_.

Weirdly, it kind of reminded him of the tiny puppy that grew into the big dog, but still acted like the scrappy puppy. Utterly oblivious it couldn't fit on your lap anymore or that it's play yaps and growls were now scary.

Controlling his breathing, he slowly slipped back into his mind. His heartbeat and breathing slowing. Fading into the background like the ghost story he'd become. Standing perfectly still and barely making any noise and hyperfocusing on Steve and T'Challa. Like this he could watch for hours, like sitting in a sniper nest waiting for the shot. Silent, watchful and ready at a seconds notice. After decades of being the Asset he could do this for days with ease, he decided that he will listen and stand sentinel over his friends.

"T'Challa! I've been looking for you for an hour! No one would tell me where you were, no matter who I demanded the information from."

"Rogers. I should not have to remind you, you do not have the right to be demanding things. You are a _Guest_. I'm sure people offered to book you an appointment with me."

"I went to see Bucky! I checked the cryo room but he was gone. The tube was **empty** and no one would tell me where he was!"

"Did you demand answers there too?"

"Of course I did, it's Bucky. You had no right to move or wake him up without me being here. He's my friend, you should have come to me first!"

Barnes is utterly bewildered by what Steve is saying, his hand clenched so hard he can hear his bones creaking before forcing himself to release it. If he wasn't careful Steve would notice he was here, actually it was kind of worrying that he couldn't sense him. His serum packed less of a punch than Steve's but he could hear their heartbeats so Steve should hear his. It came down to the fact Steve had just not spent much time training in the army, and less time training himself to stretch his senses like he'd been forced to. It was why they were almost evenly matched, maybe slightly in his favour even with his bastardised serum.

He shakes his head, wondering what on earth was happening. '_What the fuck happened to you Stevie? You're talking to a fucking king. If he wants to wake me he can and he's following my requests dammit?_' He remembered telling Steve that he'd rather get woken up alone. That having people there would just stress him out. Apparently he'd just selectively forgotten things that didn't he disagreed with, he was pretty sure that that had _always_ been a trait of Steve's along with his stubbornness. They'd been a lot cuter when you could just pick him up to move him however.

"I spoke to Sergeant Barnes before he went into cryo if you _remember_? **He** requested that treatment options be brought to **him** first, and that **he** be awoken with as few people as possible."

Barnes marvels at how T'Challa barely raises his voice, yet he punctuates certain words with a hard, forceful anger that the huffing and yelling Steve just can't seem to match.

Something about it sets Steve off worse however but he isn't sure why.

Steve doesn't even seem to be listening too, which just irritates him. With how much Stevie had been ignored growing up, he'd never imagined his friend turning around now and ignoring others. He'd always been ready to stand up for the little guy, to give voice to those who didn't have one. The serum was meant for him to do that. Not for him to use it to his personal advantage to speak over anyone who didn't fall into line.

The whole situation had him pinching his nose in irritation. He should leave his spot, to stop this, T'Challa doesn't deserve this. This is on him. _His_ _responsibility_. However, he doesn't want it to be his responsibility. Why does it have to still be on him, surely in the several decades since he 'died' Steve would have found someone else to save him when he didn't think? Yet, he knew that just him being in the room would likely stop Steve's yelling and posturing. His feet however feel glued to the floor. He leans forward to try and force himself to move but he can't help just thinking.

'_Why?! Why is this still on me? Can't I just be selfish? Don't I deserve that? After everything I've been through?! ' _

That brings him up short. After everything. After all the people he killed. He's sure he doesn't even remember everyone and yet the number in his mind is terrifying. And it's not just the people he killed. Death reverberates through so many people, through families and communities. If he killed a father, could the remaining parent supply for several children? If he killed an important person in a community did it collapse in the power vacuum. All the political activists he'd been sent after, how many wars had he prolonged? It wasn't just the assassinations, they were just the pebbles, he couldn't even calculate the ripples.

'_No, I don't deserve to be selfish. Not after everything I've done.' _

Steve jars him back into the room, tearing him away from his internal conversation before he got sucked deeper into arguing with himself. Which is probably good because he was pretty sure arguing with yourself wasn't a good sign. What he said had him back to angry however.

"Bucky must have been so scared waking up without me being here. He was probably terrified being stuck with people he doesn't even know! If I was here he would have known he was safe."

OK. What is he? A fucking child? Sure cryo was scary waking up. But he's got decades of bad association with the thing, no amount of people cheering him on was going to change that for him. It was still cold and ice seeping into his bones. The cold stealing away time, never knowing when, or if he'd wake up again. Not knowing what world he'd even face when he left compared to when he'd gone in. Expecting the sharp pain and rough treatment on release. He'd been a few thoughts away from attacking when he was released, he never missed an opportunity to kill Hydra agents. Even when he knew they'd hurt him after. After a few decades it was seen as punishment to Hydra agents for becoming sloppy or complacent. He was still punished though. Typically. If someone had reached for him in that chamber, he would have broken their neck.

He knew that going in however. He expected the fear and he'd told Shuri and T'Challa about his potential reactions, about what happened in his past. He'd been worried for them, he'd even suggested through gritted teeth that he be restrained, Shuri had been heavily unimpressed.

When it came down to it, Shuri was perfect. She was present and didn't rush him. Didn't touch him. Gave him time to adapt.

Somehow, he doubted Steve would have been as courteous to his feelings. If he'd pulled him out he knew he'd have ended up flashing back on how he was dragged out everytime and Steve just didn't listen to him when he said that. Steve didn't want to listen when he talked about PTSD his therapist had told him about, he'd thought Steve had been in this time long enough to lose that way of thinking from the 40s. He just thought the fact that it was _him_ would magically make everything different. That he'd get over it just by being near him so what's the point about learning about it? He admitted to only himself that that had hurt, he'd wanted his friend to understand, to be interested even. It was weird and he couldn't explain why, but his disinterest in that made a huge impact on him. He wasn't even sure why it mattered, he'd just known that he'd expected Steve to want to know more.

In his weakened state he likely wouldn't have done much damage to the super soldier coming out of cryo, but coming out fighting would have hurt _him_, mentally as well as physically. More fighting he didn't control.

It also wasn't helping that **every time** he shouted '_Bucky_' it felt like his insides were squirming, like his skin is hot and his senses were just dialed up too much, like everything turned and assaulted him, like he wants to scratch and hack at it till it just **STOPS**. He also didn't get why he was reacting in such a visceral manner. He knew it made Steve happy to call him Bucky. So why couldn't he just man up and deal with it? Instead it was making him want to hit himself, hit Steve.. Just hit something? He ran his hand across his face, this was _exhausting_.

"The Sergeant was perfectly fine and safe, I believe ignoring his requests would have been more detrimental to his recove-."

"Why did you wake him now of all times.. Is this because of-"

"Mr Roger's. As with our agreement with the patient, he was awoken when a viable treatment was discovered."

Something seems to finally snap in T'Challa, like a steel band snapping and sharply embedding itself into a wall, that's what the Kings voice felt like to him. He imagined he looked pissed by now too. Steve just scoffs at that, although he doesn't understand why. These reactions just felt wrong to him.

"You should have brought it to me first to agree on it before offering it to Bucky. He doesn't understand this time…"

"Everything will explained, to him. He understands more than you think and I highly doubt you would understand the technology involved anyway."

It was hard not to bark out a laugh at that. Steve had never really had the same interest as him in technology, for Steve it was just a thing to use to do the thing it was meant to. To him? He wanted to take it apart, examine every bit, find out what they do. Find out how and why it goes together and then put it back together. To see if he could make it better. Sure he'd mostly only been able to do that with cars, but this was a different time. Tech was _everywhere_ and he loved it. He suspected Steve tolerated it at best.

"How could you do this T'Challa? Was this punishment for earlier? Are you trying to hurt me?"

'_What did he do earlier? Was what when he lies to T'Challa_' he wondered.

"Well you managed. Well done, but you shouldn't be using Bucky in your games! He doesn't deserve this."

That's it. He just can't listen anymore. He bursts out, directly putting himself between T'Challa and Steve. Face looking more like the Winter Soldier than anyone else.

"Dastatachna! _that's enough! _Would ya just stop? I. Am. Not. A. Fucking. Child!"

He snarls out the words, not yelling loudly, but each word punctuated whilst gesturing with his hand. Steve flinched slightly at the Russian but broke out into a huge smile.

"Bucky! You're here!"

Barnes side steps him and backs up when Steve practically launches at him. Trying to hug him he supposes. He shakes his head a few times, holding his hand out in a stop gesture, which just seems to confuse Steve who seems to have all but forgotten that T'Challa exists in his excitement, he also seemed to have not heard him either.

"Buck, I'm so sorry they made you wake up alone, I would have been here if I'd known, I'm so sorry."

"Steve, that wouldn't have helped. After cryo I need to NOT be touched and left be. Ty menya ne slushayesh_You're not listening to me_. Like I told you. The Princess was great and I will be the one who decides my treatment, not you."

"But Buck, it's me, we're best friends, you'd have been much better. I don't know about this treatment, you don't know much about this time, I can make sure it's safe. And you obviously aren't fine.. You are speaking Russian.. "

He almost whispered the last part as if him slipping here and there with some Russian is the worst thing happening in here and he just wants to scream because he liked it, sometimes it felt more natural coming out of his mouth than the English did. He'd been punished by so many handlers for accidentally reverting to Russian but when they wiped him it became his main language and he had to force himself to switch. They knew that and they still hurt him over it, now Steve is looking at him like he's worried the Winter Soldier is back. He forced himself to calm down. Taking a deep, measured breath.

"If it wasn't safe the King and Princess and the many highly trained people in Wakanda wouldn't offer it to me. You need to apologise. Now."

"Huh? I already did, I'm sorry but they didn't tell me they were even waking you, I'm sorry I wasn't here."

'_Damn the punk looks so earnest_' he thinks, whilst another part of him pitches in '_Yeah, the svolachjerk is earnestly trying to override our autonomy!_' He nearly growls at that thought, anger bubbling up inside him.

"Not to me punk. To the King who you just screamed at like a brat!"

"But Buck, come on. What he did was wrong. I had a right to be here."

"They were abiding my wishes to wake up on my own, in my own time! I had a right to have my wishes respected. Which they did."

Steve looks like a kicked puppy, it pulls on some of the memories but he is just too angry.

"Fine. I'm sorry T'Challa. Would you mind leaving now so I can speak to Bucky privately?"

Barnes just gapes and shakes his head.

"T'Challa offered to show me my rooms, if he doesn't mind, I would like him to still show me? I'd understand if you don't want to after… This."

He turns to see T'Challa whilst not giving his back to Steve, looking chagrin and guilty over this utter disaster and gesturing at Steve in general when he said '_This_'.

"Oh course, I'd be happy to walk with you and show you where you'll be staying. There are differences to the rest of the Villa that Mr Rogers wouldn't know about anyway."

T'Challa smiled at him, looking utterly unruffled and not angry at all when he turned to him. He was quite impressed that someone smiling and looking so kind could still get a jab in like that, he didn't bother hiding the smirk. He was praying that Steve hadn't ruined his chances of befriending the man. He… He wanted people who didn't have expectations of him. Shuri and T'Challa were what he needed. They didn't look at him like he was a ghost from the past, a crazed assassin about to murder everyone and not with pity of him being a POW. That was something special he wanted to keep.

Steve looks like he's about to say something but he shoots him a glare to shut up and by the Gods the idiot does. His jaw is clenched however, jutted out in a stubborn display that he was clearly not happy with him. Which is fine, because he isn't happy with him either.

T'Challa walked past Steve without even glancing at him, Barnes followed and Steve finally followed too, realising that if he didn't, he'd be left behind. Oddly silent, looking slightly confused, more irritated and not even slightly guilty. As they're leaving Barnes grabbed the huge, impossibly soft hoodie that Shuri had left for him, happy that like his top, the left side had been altered for his lack of arm. It takes him a little bit of effort but he eventually gets it on, surprised he didn't get Steve in his face about helping but from the look on his face, T'Challa might have gotten in his way.

He can't help but laugh, even with the tense situation when he looks down and noticed there is a cute kitten on the front, scowling adorably with 'Murder Kitten' written underneath. T'Challa does a double take when he notices and the two of them start laughing. He slips the tablet Shuri gave him into the pocket as Steve looks at it critically, obviously not happy, he just about resists the urge to roll his eyes. He knew in his memories that his sisters had just as much sass as the young princess.

The trip to the villa is all kinds of awkward and tense but also kind of fun. T'Challa utterly ignoring Steve, Barnes dodging Steve everytime he tries to reach out. Steve ignoring T'Challa whilst shooting the King occasional glares. Steve with his disapproving face at his hoodie. It's utterly ridiculous. After the second time Steve tried to make contact with him, he demanded Steve walk in front of them. Adding that he was just not comfortable having anyone at his back. He feels bad at the pain flashing on his supposed best friend's face, but part of him feels amused by it. The rest of him feels guilty at being amused. Fare to say his brain is confusing to him, and it's his brain.

T'Challa seamlessly keeps the conversation going, not leaving room for Steve to interrupt, a small smile on his face shows he's definitely doing it on purpose. He might have said something, but Steve screamed at a sodding King for fucks sake. He's also still angry at the way Steve has been talking about him. He might have problems with his brain, but he's also a hundred year old super soldier assassin. He has the right to make his own choices, even if others don't like them.

People had been taking away his choices from the second he was drafted.

It was important that he got a say so now. Sure decisions were fucking terrifying. But he wasn't going to hand Steve a new leash just because he was scared about what food or clothes to choose. He'd learn and he couldn't do that if someone did everything for him.

Wakanda is amazing enough that even with the awkward atmosphere, he finds it easy to get sucked in to the Kings explanations or just anything he points at. His love for science and technology back in the 40s was something Hydra couldn't remove apparently and this place is fantastic. It is what he imagined the future might be back when they went to that Stark Expo. Any questions about how things work T'Challa explains too. Not just short explanations, he goes into detail and never seems annoyed even when he suspects the questions he was asking were probably things their children knew. He might have let embarrassment stop him once in his life, before hydra, but he wasn't going to let that stop him now. Plus he's enjoying himself too much to care.

T'Challa tells him he will love Shuri's lab and she's going to enjoy showing him everything she can he suspects. He can't wait. He's actually smiling, so caught up in everything and doesn't even notice that Steve looks put out and kind of bored. When they arrive at the villa, he recognised the 2 guards out front as members of the Dora Milaje and wonders why they're guarding Steve's team? He doesn't recognise one of the women, but the other he does was one of the people that kept him company when he first arrived and Steve was settling the others, he had refused to go, much to Steve's annoyance but it was just too many people. She was nice to him, even though he'd been a bit ragged after having Shuri help with his arm. He'd struggled to talk so she'd signed at him, simple as that, he didn't know if he was more shocked that she knew ASL or that he knew it.

"Onyenka! Hi! I didn't know you'd be here!"

He can't help but be a little excited, his anger had been crushed by how freaking amazing this place is. He waves at the other guard who gives him an open, kind smile too. Steve looks a little shocked which makes him wonder if he bothered talking to anyone outside of the team and the King. Which is confusing, he is pretty sure he has the social graces of a woodlouse right now, and a mood that switches to anxiety, panic and anger in seconds, yet whilst in agony of his arm just being blown off and about to go back into cryo and even HE had managed to make friends. What on earth is Steve's excuse?

"It's great to see you up and around, everyone will be happy to know our resident snowman has been defrosted! We missed you."

He's taken back and touched that they remembered him and still wanted to have him around.

"I'm going to see my new rooms now and I'm exhausted, but maybe I can annoy you again tomorrow? Xoliswa too?"

He asks hopefully, T'Challa just seems chuffed at him getting to know more people. Steve is still looking confused at the whole thing, but at least it's better than him being stubborn and angry. Taking small victories where you find them is perfectly acceptable.

"Of course! We'll have a small breakfast for you with a few others you met last time, yes? Then when you are more settled there are many who wish to meet you."

"That sounds great, I should be able to eat some solids tomorrow?"

He glances to T'Challa in question who nods. Grinning because Shuri told him that she and Okoye especially had been discussing foods he just had to try. 'He's too skinny!' had been heard so many times he had a feeling that the women are going to take it upon themselves to feed him, he's sure of it.

"A little, yes, but soft ones and not too much. Give your insides a chance to catch up and then I'm sure between the Okoye and my sister, you'll have tried every food Wakanda has to offer in no time."

"That sounds brilliant, it'll be nice to find out what I like."

He laughed whilst T'Challa opens the door for them to head in. Standing so Barnes can go first, putting himself at his back. Happy to not have Steve there, he knows T'Challa won't just touch him without asking whilst knowing that T'Challa was doing this for him, even though it was angering the super soldier although he hadn't said anything yet. Plus, he just can't have him at his back right now, not while his mind is split over him in this confusing way. Half angry, half sad. Missing a short gangly asmatic kid whilst angry that another person tried to steal his choices away. He tried to force the anger down but it almost shoved back at him. Until this resolves being around him is just as uncomfortable now as it was back in DC, more so even, just because of different reasons. Back then he didn't like Steve because he made him remember and the memories hurt and disoriented him. Now he's making him angry and conflicted.

"I can tell you what you like Buck, before you get your memories back I can guide you."

'_At least it isn't shouting and only slightly patronising.'_ he thinks sullenly. Wondering how to tell Steve his decisions to find himself and not just try to be the Bucky he was.

He'd tried before he went into cryo, and it had gone as well as one might think. Yeah, he has memory problems, saying that would be stating the obvious, but people seem to have several misconceptions about what that means. Even before Shuri's subconscious tech and his healing component had restored his old memories. Steve is the worst for these bad assumptions. Apparently he didn't listen when the doctors explained about the subconscious treatments.

"Steve, the subconscious treatments worked. The memories are there but that's... It's not me. Plus, people change normally over time, I've had seven decades to change. I want to find out what I like now, understand?"

Plus the serum had changed his taste. He remembered that quite clearly, that things before and after were very different. Things that had smelled pleasant were now awful, favourite foods just tasted off. His senses had heightened and it affected his tastes. True that pretty much everything had to taste better than those vile salty gel packs Hydra had forced him to consume, but he figured he had a chance to find stuff he enjoyed now, instead of merely tolerated.

"That's amazing that you have your memories back! Why didn't you say earlier? We could have talked about the old days!"

"Steve, did ya not just listen to me. I'm not him, I'm different and I want to learn who that is."

T'Challa closed the door quietly behind them, the rest of the villa was empty from what her could hear, the others out enjoying the nice breeze out or something he assumed. He was just thankful they were alone.

"Just give it time Buck, you'll be back to yourself in no time."

He just sighed and T'Challa gave him a comforting smile. He wondered if he slammed his head into the wall would Steve's chatter get less maddening. He didn't even seem to realise that he was mad at him! He mourned his friend who would have been able to tell at a glance.

He's so staggered the difference the serum has had on him, more than he'd ever realised before his fall. It's not just in his size and strength liked he suspected back then. It seems to have shifted everything and he wonders if the bastardised version of the serum he received did the same to him? Is that why he doesn't identify with the 'Bucky' in the memories.

The therapist had suggested it was the decades of brainwashing and torture, which had sounded right at the time. Now, however he wondered if the serum had changed more than his tastes in foods and scented candles.

"Well Mr Rogers, would you mind waiting here whilst I show Mr Barnes his room. Our psychologists say it's vitally important that his room is just that, his room, as we have discussed before. That no one enter without permission."

"Wait, what? Why are you going and I'm staying? You want me in right Bucky?"

"Right now Stevie, I'm still mad at you for screaming to a king and treating me like a child. T'Challa is showing me how things work and then I'm going to rest for a bit, I'll… I'll see you later."

T'Challa hangs back as he turns to start up the stairs, he just holds his breath, practically damned praying that calling him Stevie will get him some points and get him a breather.

" Our conversation from earlier is not finished Mr Rogers. You might want to take this time to think about your answer?"

The King's voice had gone hard and even Steve stopped, seemingly in shock from the kind smiling man to this, the switch was gone in the blink of an eye, like a mask slipping perfectly into place.

He decides that he's just going to ignore Steve for now and all the cascading implications that come with the man. He needs a break, his brain is spiralling to much, if he doesn't get a break he can feel that he is really going to punch him. If he thinks that this rudeness and lies are going to pass around him? He's got another thing coming.

Steve steps closer to him, looming over with a look of annoyance crossing his face and he flinched back. Hunching over. Chanting in his mind that this is not Hydra, he's allowed to voice his thoughts. He can make choices even if people don't like them. He won't be punished. He won't be recalibrated. Dammit he was doing so well but the Russian is on the tip of his tongue as he bites it back, thinking of anything but being ready to comply.

"Mr Rogers, I request you back up please. Mr Barnes is still getting confidence in making his own choices and disagreeing. I'm sure you can imagine how such things were dealt with at Hydra?"

T'Challa raised an eyebrow and got between the two men, shielding Barnes and directing him up the stairs without touching him. Steve flinched at the implication of what T'Challa had said but he didn't say anything, in the end they leave Steve shocked enough that he doesn't follow them this time.

He blinks when they come to a door, he hadn't even realised they'd made it all the way to the top floor. His feet had carried him along but its like his mind had checked out, he still feels somewhat fuzzy. Luckily he thinks, T'Challa had been watching out for them.

"Just grip the handle you thumb on the pad and… there we go. Open."

The pad flashed green and the door clicked open and he stepped inside. The door opened into what looked like a living room? He blinked a few times.

"I thought this was my room?"

"Remember my sister having a soft spot for you? Well she wanted you to be comfortable, so this is more of a one bedroom apartment than a '_bedroom_'."

T'Challa was grinning and looking smug that he had an idea that this wasn't just his sisters doing. They stepped into the room, the door swinging shut behind him offering him security enough to just look at the room. It was Wakandan design and absolutely gorgeous. Very expensive looking but he could tell that the two royals had put effort in to make it not '_too much_' for him. There was a lot of wood, some kind of bamboo if he had to guess and it was a lovely colour. Rugs with designs in black and gold on the floor, looking so plush she wanted to sink his feet into them. Comfortable looking chairs surrounded a TV on one side, on the other, a desk, a large blue screen coming from it that he assumed was a computer of some kind that T'Challa gave him a quick rundown on. The kitchen was sleek and gorgeous too, at a glance he noticed the fridge was fully stocked with the shakes he'd been offered in the medical bay and other foods he should be able to eat, there was even fruit on the little breakfast bar. There were 2 doors from the main, huge room. His fingers itched to run across the surfaces and feel the different textures but he figured that was less than polite when others were around, he could wait till he was alone.

T'Challa quickly showed him the bathroom and said Shuri included notes on how to operate the settings on the shower, which was three times the size as the one he'd used earlier! He wasn't even trying to count the amount of shower heads. The bath looked like he practically could swim in it and apparently had jets. Jets! The future was amazing, yet, so weird. It was like utter indulgence compared to the desperate rationing in his memories. The bedroom was darker, the windows covered with large black out blinds. The bed looked almost too comfortable and he couldn't resist running his fingers over the blanket. The style of black and gold in the other rooms followed here too. He peaked in the wardrobe and dressed to find it full of clothes. More than he'd ever owned at one point.

"This is.. So much!"

"Well Shuri likes to go all out."

"Just Shuri huh?"

T'Challa just grinned at being caught out.

"We like to spoil guests a little when they come, and as we weren't going to spoil the others, we had to make up for it somewhere. Anyway, I'll leave you to sleep. My sister showed you the message system on the pad yes? I'm also on there and you might get a few from some others too. Okoye definitely will be contacting you."

T'Challa grinned making his way to the door as he pulled out the tablet having a look and seeing he had requests for contact from a few names he recognised and a few he didn't. Surprised so many people wanted to talk to him, he accepted them all. He'd not felt all that hopeful when he'd first heard of the treatment, then the talk about Siberia and Steve storming in? It had all felt a bit bleak.

Maybe having a space that he knew was purely his help? Seeing how much effort people had gone to make him comfortable! Now he felt quietly hopeful and not as overwhelmed, even the rage in his mind finally quietened.

He could see the calendar on the device had his therapy sessions listed too, he'd met with the doctor before going into cryo, so he was happy he'd be still seeing her a few times a week. '_This could really work'_ he thinks as he waved T'Challa off and decided to poke the computer a bit as well as the tablet. His fingers had been itching to play with the tech.

…

Some time later, he's not sure precisely as he'd gotten distracted. Knocking on his door jarred him from his current task, he'd done a few perimeter checks and had gotten more comfortable in the rooms, feeling his way around and taking a mental inventory of everything that was now apparently '_his_'. He'd literally just been heading to the bedroom to sleep. Knowing he couldn't just ignore the man however, he grabbed one of the red drinks from the fridge before opening the door. Maybe this would go better than last time? He can have a good interaction with the man right? Now he's pretty sure he can hear laughter in his mind, but hey, it's better than rage.

He'd been expecting Steve and instead got.. Lots of people and Steve. '_Yay_' He had to think to recall all their names and before he'd had much of a chance to even see them, one of them just barged right on in.

"Don't you know it's rude not to invite people in… what the fuck is this?"

Angry-man, as he'd now been dubbed, snapped as Steve followed him in, two men hanging back looking kind of awkward. He noticed the absence of the Witch, which was good. Something in his brain was screaming at him to not let her in his space, probably the fact Shuri is scared of her, he likes Shuri and doesn't like the idea of people hurting her.

"Um, come in? I guess."

Polite guy 1 and 2 smiled and came in. Angry-Man was stalking around looking at everything and Steve was just giving him hopeful puppy dog eyes again and seemed unconcerned by his team mates extremely rude behaviour. He sighed, he knew it wasn't fair on the man but he _hated_ that look. That look meant he wanted Bucky. Which made him feel awful for not being Bucky. Even though he didn't want to be Bucky. It was not a comfortable mixture of feelings.

"So, what did T'Challa want to talk to you about."

"No seriously. What the fuck is this. Why do you get this and all we get is shitty fucking bedrooms?"

"Doesn't the house have rooms like this?"

He asked, slightly confused at why this man was so angry at him, he didn't design their rooms.

"Yeah, but it's for everyone, why do you get your own floor?"

"Clint, that's enough, Bucky has been through a lot."

Angry-man.. Clint, yeah, he remembered him now. The archer. Clint glared at Steve, obviously about to fire off again when one of the Polite guys, wait. He recognised him, didn't he have wings? Dammit he should remember their names but the information was just not coming to him. Anyway, Wings intervenes, and he's so happy he did, because he's too tired for this conflict right now and they're in his space that is meant to be his and safe.

"Clint, we already know why, it's the doctors recommendation to help with his healing. Bucky needs somewhere that is just his. You shouldn't have barged in either."

Clint just scowls and starts looking around the kitchen which just snapped something in him seeing someone poking through his drawers. He just got this place. He lost his space in Bucharest and now it felt like he was losing this too. Even though he knew logically he wasn't, it was just a guest being ruder, part of his brain didn't agree and was seconds away from snarling. He took a breath to focus to make sure he kept to English. Slipping would worry Steve more and make him less likely to leave. Even if he did slip on a few words

"Could you st..stop and leave please? Now? I'm not com..comfortable having so many people here so soon, especially not angry rude people going through my stuff."

"Buck! He's family, Clint is fine."

"No, Cap, Bucky is right. This place has to be his and he has to have control. Come on Clint, let's go get dinner."

Wings leads Clint out and cuts of Steve with a look, Clint stomps all the way out, leaving muddy footprints on his new flooring. He's so angry he doesn't hear or care what the idiot has to say.

"That wasn't very nice Buck."

"If we are going by how you spoke to the King ear..earlier, I think I'm doing fine. Plus I get to cho..decide who is in my space, and he is not..never coming here again."

"He's not that bad, he's just angry that you have better accommodations."

"Yeah, I'm sure the free, huge, gorgeous villa is so terri..horrible. Sorry Steve. This is my choice. He is not allowed in. No one is without my per..permission."

Fuck, keeping to English is making him stutter now He's cursing in his head, trying to get the anger to just calm the fuck down so he can stop tripping over stupid words. He hadn't accidentally slipped into Russian however so that's definitely a positive. Steve is frowning. The other polite guy who had just been standing awkwardly to the side comes over and tentatively offers his hand.

"Hi, not sure you remember me, I'm Scott. Nice to have you back with us! I just wanted to welcome you, Steve said you were tired so we'll go and let you get some sleep."

He shakes hands with Scott and watches him try to make Steve go, but fails, so he offered up an apologetic smile. He shrugged he hadn't thought that would work anyway. With less people cluttering around he's able to breathe and speak a little easier. Even if it might be slower than normal.

"If the rude guy was more like Scott or Wings? Then I wouldn't have booted him."

He crossed his arm over his stomach. Standing awkwardly. Realising belatedly that it's hard to fold your arms when you only have one apparently. It made him feel like he was hugging himself so he just forced his hand to stay at his side instead. What is this? Do normal people just know how to stand?

He just wanted to sleep so he wasn't offering Steve more conversation topics.

"You'll come around to him, that's what family is for right! Anyway, what did T'Challa talk about earlier?"

He glared at the family comment. He didn't know these people! One just rudely barged into his space, muddied his floor and swore at him whilst going through his things and he was at fault for being rude?

Sighing he went to the kitchen, taking a pull from the drink and placing it on the side. Checking under the sink of cleaning supplies he grabbed some spray and 2 cloths. Steve had tried to make the question about T'Challa subtle, but he could see the tensed shoulders that bellied that calm. '_He's paranoid, his story has been compromised_' the back of his mind whispered.

"Here, take this, if you want this conversation you are helping me clean up the mess that guy made in my house that I've not had for a single day."

"Um, Buck, they have tech or people for that. Tony had these bots because Nat didn't like.. Uhh"

Steve tripped over his sentence, he assumed it was an old conversation piece as he'd almost slipped into it without realising he was talking about Stark.

"Do I look like I care? Help me clean or leave."

He grudgingly agreed and again he wondered what happened to Stevie, if his ma saw him like this she would not have been impressed. He wondered how he'd been living these days that his first instinct for a dirty floor was to ignore it and wait for it to be cleaned by someone or something else? What happened to the hard work obsessed Steve?

"If your ma saw you shying away from a bit of cleaning she'd have had your hide. And he asked about Siberia."

The slight smile Steve had gotten when he talked about something from the past, which apparently is his favourite hobby. Why, in a country like Wakanda he wanted to talk about the great depression and war in America, he had no idea. He just didn't get it, he didn't want to talk about it. Why would he? So many memories were miserable and so, so hungry. Desperate even. Scratching out means for food, going hungry so the kids could get even halfway full. The future was much better. There was a full kitchen right there and he didn't half to work himself half to death for scraps.

"Uh, what did you say, because I wanted to, kind of, get our stories straight before he spoke to you over it? I can't believe he went after you when you were vulnerable to ask about that!"

Steve had stopped cleaning, making him sigh whilst he sat there looking righteous and angry when he was the one lying and wanting _him_ to lie.

"He asked if I would tell him. I was able to say no. He asked permission to even ask me about it. **My choice**. And maybe if you didn't lie, we wouldn't need to get our stories straight. You should tell him the trut-."

"I'll talk to him and straighten things up, you were hurt so you could have gotten things wrong. You didn't.. Tell him about the Stark's did you?"

"Of course I did! Ty shutish, shto li? _Are you kidding me?_ And don't you dare! You told me Stark would be okay too. T'Challa thinks you hurt him more tha-."

"He was trying to kill you!

Steve who had done no cleaning and just left the cloth on the floor to lay his hand on his shoulder. He flinched back and away from him. Feeling the need to scratch where he touched. Yeah he definitely didn't like being touched without permission.

"Steve, it doesn't matter what he was doing, you shouldn't have lied to T'Challa. Or shouted at him. You never used to be this rude. In these memories I have, you were polite and kind, you knew what it was like to not be heard. You keep telling me to be Bucky, but why.. why should I when you aren't Stevie! Why can't yo-"

"Buck, you just need to spend time with me! I'm still your best friend. Nothing has changed."

"Right now I … I don't even know if I want you near me! You keep interrupting me! Let me finish a sentence and listen to what I'm saying!"

"Buck, well get past this, you just have to let me help you."

"Ya ne khachu s taboy razgavarivat'" _I don't want to talk to you._

He muttered under his breath, earning him another strange look before he realised he'd switched again. Snarling at himself, anytime he did that Steve listened to him less damn it.

"Please Buck.."

He is pleading at him but why won't he just listen? When he actually goes to hug him he wondered if this is a cryo induced nightmare or something, this is just madness, he got them occasionally when he hadn't been wiped in a while and was placed in cryo. Too many memories swimming, mixing and just plain screwing up to drift in the darkness. Even now, looking back, he's not sure what was real and what wasn't. He wants to scream at him, biting his tongue because he knows if he shouts in Russian things would get worse. He'd think he'd gone full Winter Soldier, he can already see it in him. The possibility that he was just _angry_ didn't seem to occur to Steve. But he keeps trying because dammit his brain is telling him that he's his best friend. The angry part really wants to punch him. His fist clenched as if getting ready to do so.

"Stevie. Please. Stop. You have to listen to me."

"Okay Buck, I'm listening."

"You have to apologise to T'Challa. And I'm betting you've been awful to Princess Shuri too? You gotta apologise to her. You also gotta respect that this floor is mine. I decide who comes in here. This includes you. "

He manages short, clipped sentences and whilst he keeps to English, his accent has slipped deeper into Russian. He remembers he is supposed to sound like he's from Brooklyn and sometimes that's there, sometimes his accent is flat and nothing. The slight tinge of Russian is more normal to him? But he knows Steve hates it, but right now he's starting to get sick of moderating himself for this man who as far as he was concerned was putting in zero effort. Steve looks like he wants to argue, his jaw set in a stubborn like and he can hear him grinding his teeth.

"Okay, for you, I'll apologise to them."

He feels like head butting a wall. Stevie used to be stubborn but this is too much surely? Or was it just cute when he was smaller? Either way, he just wants to sleep.

"You know what? Fine. I'll take it. Tell him the truth too. Don't tell him I remembered wrong because my brain is mush or some bull. Now, if you don't mind. I'm going to sleep, I'm shattered and I need to finish cleaning as you did utterly nothing. "

He points at Steve, punctuating his speech, maybe it will help. Steve just seems to watch his hands oddly before sighing at him in obvious irritation. His eye twitches as he feels exactly the same back at him.

"You shouldn't be alone right now Buck, come down stairs with everyone, we'll watch a movie and you can nap on the sofa or something. I'd feel better if I could see you is all."

"Remember that part about respecting my decisions? I'm going to sleep. In my bedroom. I'm happy I HAVE a bedroom, I'm going to use it. I'll see you tomorrow."

He walks over to the door, opening it sharply and holding it open expectantly for him. Eventually he grudgingly leaves, he dodges yet another attempted hug with a glare, he's getting good at that, and finally he can breathe when he has the door closed. He bites back the need just to rage in Russian because he can.

He needs to tell Steve to stop calling him Bucky but he doesn't know _how,_ especially when he doesn't have a name for himself. As horrid as it makes him feel, he'll deal with that when he has a name. He is however proud that he didn't have a panic attack at all. Yay for the techniques his doctors gave him and pure exhaustion giving him confidence to yell. He wasn't looking forward to tomorrow with Steve if it was going to be anything like today.

Thinking about Steve, he remembers what he was like when he was set on something. Dog with a bone. He can see little Stevie jumping into a fight and he knows he jumped in to save him, like he always did, but he doesn't know why he did it.

Why would he bother because the idiot just gets into more fights anyway?

He searches the memories and sees him do it, over and over.

But he can't feel or understand why.

'_Maybe getting his ass handed to him would be beneficial, would have stopped fighting.. _' floats across his mind. He shoves it down and decides to ignore all things Steve and deal with them tomorrow. Things are already awkward and blaming things on missing memories is easier.

'_Coward_.'

**T'Challa POV**

_**10th September**_

T'Challa had just finished telling his sister everything he'd heard from Rogers and then Barnes. The latter being the far more polite of the pair and trying to work out how best to confront Rogers next.

According to his sisters snooping, they were not the only ones lied to about the events leading up to and including the Civil War. The good Captain was lying to his people too. His sister was chewing on her nail considering everything that had happened and he was surprised how quickly she had become invested in Dr Stark.

He had a debt born from abandoning an ally in need where as his sister was worried about the suffering of a friend.

"I knew something bad had happened, but _this_ wasn't even on my list of possibilities! And my list was **_extensive_**!"

"But you have spoken to him right? Seen him? He's in good health?"

Shuri gives him a smile that makes him dread whatever is coming next.

"He _seems_ okay. I didn't know him before so I don't know if it's weird he wears sunglasses for every video call even at 3am. He carries so much stress and anxiety around him it's almost palpable.. Even with the kids having him on a schedule I'm sure he goes days without sleeping.."

"I've seen old videos of him online… by the way. **Do not** Google him. The sunglasses are a usual fixture, I think, and he's a genius like you, I suspect he has equal problems when it comes to turning that off."

They both shrug, it's hard to tell much from this side of the planet from a man who obviously knows how to hide pain. He can tell that his sister, that whilst she can't seem to put it into words, she is concerned.

"There is one thing. You know we have been collaborating on different projects? There is one that we started on practically straight after he came out of the coma. He said it was just an idea to keep him busy while he recovered.. At first I thought it was for Barnes but he didn't want to say..."

She pulled up her own and Tony's files that they'd worked on, including pictures of prototypes of all manner of things he could barely glimpse at before she'd moved on, until reaching several about what looked like a hand and wrist? Eventually showing highly detailed photos of what he assumed was the final piece. T'Challa saw their two different styles mixing together as she flicked to the pages she was after. Just looking at this showed how much to two geniuses seemed to meld well. Despite their differences.

Most people Dr Stark's age wouldn't work so well with someone as young as his sister, he knew, she'd tried with others and it ended explosively. Literally that one time..

Bringing his focus back to the file she'd stopped at, he couldn't help but think that too much had gone into this too be a mere idea, not with the nano-tech nerves and that he'd apparently made the final piece with vibranium his sister had sent. His sister might make prototypes out of Vibranium but she had a lot more access to it. Dr Stark just had around enough to make it, surely there were other more useful things he could have made with the rare metal.

"At least I now know why he freezes up anytime Barnes is mentioned."

His sister muttered under her breath whilst bringing more stuff up. It could have been for Barnes, but then why would he stop in the middle of the forearm when Barnes arm went up to his shoulder? The design was gorgeous, though he had to admit, the inside looks like it had been constructed from triangles that were hives for the nano-tech installed within them similar to his arc reactors going by the notes. So if anything got chewed up by the servos for any reason, they could replace anything broken easily. Although he wasn't sure what was telling the nano tech what to do just from looking at the blueprints, there wasn't a control node that he could see. Whilst he was smart himself, a lot of this went over his head.

"If it was for Barnes, I can't imagine he'd stop mid arm, and this isn't exactly something he could market. Nano-tech doesn't even exist technically outside of Wakanda and this is different to ours? What is controlling those nanite? When did he make these? "

"Not a clue and he'd started before we got into contact."

T'Challa couldn't help but he a little impressed and he could see his sister was too, he hadn't caught up to Wakanda but in some areas he was definitely getting closer without their considerable advantages.

"He said that the control node was his part of the project. We finished it ages ago but he sent all this new data with the presents and I still have no idea, but they are working... I think he finally took apart Barnes old arm and he looked up his files.. I didn't get through many before I had to stop and I suspect Dr Stark censored them for me."

He made a note to go through the files on Barnes arm, probably before he ate if the paling on his sisters face was anything to go by.

"You think this is his hand don't you?"

"Yes. It's why I sent him the Vibranium as a 'get_ well soon gift_'. His nano-tech works almost scarily perfect with Vibranium."

"Does he know you think it's his hand?"

"Nope. I'm trying to be, I don't know, nice?"

"I think I've been transported to a different dimension."

T'Challa squints at her, with such a deadpan delivery that Shuri laughs before she glares and kicked his shin, she'd been doing that a lot lately, he wondered where she had picked up that lovely habit, he was going to end up bruised.

"Just because I'm not nice to you doesn't mean I can't be nice to others."

"I feel so loved. Should I send him something?"

"You're going to send him vibranium aren't you?"

"Whaaaat. No… Why? It worked for you?"

"Yes, but he wasn't mad at me and I am not talking about his coma two months late."

"Hmm, Maybe I can throw my support behind his recent amendments to the Accords? I read them and I like how he's bringing in protections for younger non-humans that Ross is dead set against. Ross has been against practically anything he's brought forward for a while now oddly. He's not been in the news much since the 'war', he's been operating by proxy, some positive mentions about his coma here and there, but there are still people attacking him. Maybe I could help?"

"Are you trying to be some kind of Knight in shining armour for Dr Stark?"

"What! No! I'm just trying to… dammit you're winding me up, aren't you?"

"Of course. Now go, shoo, on to your Stark-Mission."

He rolled his eyes and backed out of his sisters lab, too many thoughts in his mind at what he'd gotten himself into. If he'd just _stopped_ and _thought_ about things, instead of letting rage and vengeance fuel him.

He wouldn't have a bunch of unruly hero's hiding out in his country whilst he was precariously opening Wakanda to the world. But he must right his wrongs, but this time slowly and maybe he could do his father proud, and possibly make life uncomfortable for Mr Rogers. Maybe he was feeling a little vindictive on that front. You could only be spoken to rudely so many times by a guest, before even a man with seemingly endless patience snapped and he had never claimed to have much in the way of patience normally.

This debt weighed heavily on him though. Even if it was about making up a wrong to a Stark. His father's contentious relationship with Dr Stark's father was something they heard about a lot growing up, for a long time they'd watched the son and his father assumed that rotten fruit didn't fall far from the rotted tree. But over the last 5 years things had changed. Either way, even if he was basically Howard Stark, T'Challa needed to make up for leaving a wounded ally on the battlefield, no matter the sins of the father.

He knew well enough the sins of the father landed on the son, even when they shouldn't.

**Shuri POV**

"Steve, I'm telling ya, I didn't come to breakfast with the team as I already had plans. You literally saw me make them!"

"I didn't think you'd really go Buck, I thought you'd prefer an old fashioned breakfast with me. "

"I wouldn't have been able to eat that. I can only eat fruit and my shakes right now."

"I'm sure if you-"

Shuri had enough at that point and stuck her head out of the doors. She smiled at Barnes, as her brother has informed her he was going by now.

"Ah, Captain Coloniser! I do not have you on my calendar."

Barnes was desperately trying not to laugh as Shuri gave Steve a sharp grin that was all teeth and promise of a sharp bite. He wasn't the most annoying invader they had right now, but he was in the top 3 and he'd come to visit her the most.

So she'd gotten fed up with the blonde giant around day 4 if she was being kind. If she was being honest, it was day 1. Mr Stubborn-Jaw, clenched said jaw and squared his shoulders for a fight. Typical.

"I'm here for Bucky. He's new to this time and in a fragile state so I think I should be here for any major decisions."

Barnes smile has gone and his eyes locked onto Steve. Shuri noting that he completely stopped moving to the point she's concerned he isn't even breathing. His face doesn't have the blank look she'd seen in clips of when he was the Winter Soldier.. But it's very close. The only difference is he looks angry too. But he has a completely different presence to what she'd come to expect from Barnes.

"Do huya net." _Fuck no_

Steve snapped to look at Barnes who was shaking his head, movement seemed to have seeped back into him.

"Steve. No. I will be the one to make the decision about what goes on in my brain. I deserve this."

"He is right Captain Coloniser. This is a patient only discussion anyway, _you, _are not permitted entry."

Two Dora Milaje appeared almost from the shadows, she noticed that Steve jumped but Barnes did not. That was interesting, few people could spot the Dora when they wanted to hide. They blocked Steve's path and Barnes strode into the lab, breathing out a lot of stress when the doors shut and she was informed Steve was being escorted back to the villa. Barnes had hunched in on himself now, seemingly trying to make himself smaller, which considering he was a walking tank was a strange look.

"Well, that's better isn't it."

She glanced around, thinking about what to do to make him more at ease.

"Want to see something I'm not meant to show you?"

Barnes looked up, unable to hide his curiosity, she'd worked out pretty fast that he was going to be a tech head. She opened a panel on the wall and showed Barnes the weapons she had been developing, he seemed tentative at first, not wanting to enjoy weapons potentially? But her enthusiasm was catching and before they realised it nearly an hour had vanished with her showing him anything he showed a remote interest in and sitting down to rebraid his hair, much to Barnes baffled confusion.

"So, now I'm feeling better, what is this brain fixing tech?"

She pulled out the glasses from the box, small and quite sleek and handed them over. Barnes looks sceptical

"Weird looking glasses are going to unmush my brain?"

She was not calling them BARF, not when she didn't have the ability to blame Dr Stark for his ridiculous names.

"They are… Retro Framing Glasses. RFG. They are capable of hijacking the hippocampus... to clear traumatic memories. Did you read the notes?"

"Some, but I thought I'd get an idea of it from you and I did not get stuck watching Teen Wolf on Netflix at all."

Shuri can't help but laugh at that, happy that he was doing something he enjoyed, even if it was binge watching shows on Netflix.

"Well, you can read up later if you want more information, but basically the glasses connect with the user's hippocampus, allowing it to find a certain traumatic memory and it's displayed on the holographic system. It makes it real enough to trick your brain, then you can change aspects of the memory, or watch enough times, running a specialised algorithm that will be designed for you, until you disassociate the memory from any physical response, originally for panic attacks for example.

"We believe the code words are hooked into memories, if you disassociate the memories the words lose their.. Hold on you, it won't produce the same physical response, it will break the programming. It can also help you connect with the older memories and deal with the memories of your time with Hydra. That was its original use really. We are off labeling it. "

"Wow. That is.. A lot. It change my memories? And off label"

"No it can't, you can, and only you can change or disassociate a memory. There were already a lot of failsafes to protect against this but in your case the outside contractor went a little overboard to assure your comfort using the device. And off label is using a medication for something else."

"Ah, you'll have to give them my thanks."

Barnes is nervously looking at the glasses and Shuri can tell he's unsure, but then she isn't surprised. People have been scrambling his brain for literal decades.

"I will. Well the first few times you use it will just be data collection, then you can set specific memories up as a passcode for the glasses to activate. The glasses will only activate if the find the matching memory in your mind.

"And whilst the algorithm will help you alter memories to achieve disassociation, I can't step in to edit them. I can't even edit the algorithm because I have no idea what it is to be honest, I know some binary coding and the basic codes that come with the glasses are okay, but you'll have one tailor written with the data from the drawing sessions. The outside contractor won't see any of your memories either. "

"Why does there need to be an algorithm written for me? "

"Well, your case is quite unique, the base ones in the glasses might work, but we don't think so. At least, you would have to watch each memory hundreds of times to even attempt to disassociate it. The algorithm will be personalised to your mind to let you effectively hack it and have it done if under 5, hopefully. I'll see how it's working and report back to see if it needs changes. I, or someone else, can watch memories with you, but only if you want them too."

He carries on fiddling with the glasses, obviously running everything through his mind. It was a lot to take in and she couldn't help but smile that he is running his fingers over the small pink sticker on the side of the glasses. She manages the hold back the laugh and reminds herself to text Tony later about his lousy subterfuge skills and his inabilty to not stamp his name on all his tech.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe and help you with your memories."

"I.. I know. It's just. I'm not sure I even deserve this?This is so much effort by insanely intelligent people who are tailor making things, for me! I'm just dangerous, I'm not even a full person. Maybe I should just go back into cryo."

It takes everything in her to not jump up and yell at him, maybe shake him, or give him the Harley Shin-kick. But she knows that wouldn't work.

"Is that what you really want?"

"No, I want to be free."

"Then let's get to it"

"Okay"


	7. Chapter 7 - Coming Together Nicely

**Coming Together Nicely **

**POV Bruce**

_**September 8th**_

**The Cần Giờ Mangrove Forest**

Bruce woke up, stretching himself bit by bit and getting himself prepared to make breakfast, he was slowly running down on essentials so soon he would have to leave his little slice of paradise and head towards people to stock up.

His musings were interrupted with a Trill from the device Tony had sent him. This thing worked in impossible locations, it wasn't so good when he was moving, but if he stopped somewhere for 12 hours it seemed to connect somehow. He didn't know how Tony developed it and that hurt, knowing he'd missed it. It wasn't in his area of expertise, but he'd gotten used to sharing a lab with Tony. He'd gotten accustomed to having someone to share a space with. Now he literally had no one. He'd stopped in a few villages, offering his medical skills, but he just.. Couldn't with people right now. Constantly on edge of what _could_ happen, remembering what _did_ happen under a haze of red and madness. Which was why he'd come here on his latest location, where he'd run into no one in a long string of such locations. Sometimes he spoke out loud just to hear his voice as he'd got months with nothing.

Even when he and Hulk had started talking, he'd stayed away. Even when he'd found that balance he'd needed, but could never grasp. He'd still stayed away because by then.. It was easier. Easier to run.

Even though he'd been annoyed when the device had turned up, just sat outside the hut in India that he'd been staying in not long after he'd left America. Because seriously, how did Tony find him? How did it even get to him? But then he really shouldn't doubt Tony's tenacity to care for his friends. Even when they didn't deserve it.

He'd come to rely on Tony's little messages of the day, sometimes several came at once if he'd been out of range. They were his little snippets of America and home, keeping him _tethered_. Keeping him _connected_. They'd gotten closer with these messages than they had sharing the lab. So when the device trilled, he dropped everything and grabbed it. Instantly, he knew it wasn't Tony. Tony was actively incapable of a message so short.

_'Banner. _

_He needs you this time, he's always been there for you, wherever you go, now it's your turn. _

_Colonel Rhodes & FRIDAY _

_-__link attached__-'_

He frowned at the device, why would Tony need him?

He clicked the link and was faced with a picture of Tony in a hospital bed. He felt winded, like a punch to the diaphragm had sucked all of the air from his lungs and all he could do was stare. He looked so _small_, and was hooked up to enough machines to make him nervous.

What little he could see of his face was mottled with bruising and swelling he was practically unrecognisable, his eyes were covered. Bandages taped over each one.

He starts panicking until he sees the date on the article and actually reads it, Tony Stark in a Coma? The picture was apparently taken by a nurse? How had that happened? It wouldn't happen in any of Tony's medical facilities, so this was troubling enough for Tony to be in a separate hospital. But where were the others? They'd never have let a nurse get a picture. He'd never be alone long enough for a nurse to get a picture surely? The Avengers would never leave him so vulnerable.

He set his jaw, he needed more information, things were not as happy as Tony had led him to believe. This simply didn't make sense, he'd seen Tony injured countless times but he was never so still. He was never so _alone_. Something was very wrong back home. He blinked, _Home_? When had that happened? When in his time away had he started seeing that place as home? He'd not had a true home in so long, it was a foreign feeling that had crept up on him.

"Want Tinman."

Bruce jumped, it had been awhile since he had heard the Hulk, he was bored here and angry at Banner for not going back yet, he'd gotten insistent a few months ago about going home. As he'd stayed, Hulk had been ignoring him. He started packing up, he'd head towards civilisation now. A new level of determination set on his features, Hulks excitement thrumming in his Veins.

He needed more information. But first..

'_YOU WERE IN A FUCKING COMA?!_'

**POV Tony **

_**September 9th**_

Tony is relaxing on his sofa, looking out of the large windows, just enjoying the view of the sea. The ebb and flow of the water is hypnotic. He's missed this, being able to just kick back and watch the ocean. Frowning he looks around and realises that something isn't right, but before he gets just of a chance to do anything about it, Steve appears behind him. Looming over him with his hands on the back of the sofa in such a familiar fashion it makes his skin crawl. This has happened before but its.. Wrong somehow. He sucks in a breath and nearly chokes, panicking for a second before realising he recognised the feeling. The original arc reactor and how it crushed his lung.

This definitely isn't right, that was removed. Steve is in front of him now, his hand on the arc reactor that blanks his mind from anything else, he tries to panic, to run, to move, but apparently his dreams are fucking merging because he's in Malibu, paralysed and Steve's fingers grip and push around the arc reactor and fuck, but it hurts. He blinks and he's back in Siberia, but without the suit. He's on the floor and Steve is ripping the arc reactor out of his chest.

"_I could do this all day_."

And then there is just pain, white hot and blinding that fills his every cell... but then the floor shifts and moves. It.. Bounces? He reaches out and his eyes fly open to realise Tara, Harley and Peter are all stood on his bed, jumping up and down to wake him. '_That's definitely a new way of getting woken up from a nightmare_.'

It takes him a few seconds to realise the day and forces a smile, pancake day. Each day of the week has specific breakfast foods in the compound, Fridays were pancakes and a resounding favourite of all the kids, he's pretty sure part of it is they enjoy watching him flip them or the chaos they turned simple toppings into. Tara at this point realises he's awake and launches herself right at him like a tiny Cannon ball. He laughs as all the air is forced out of his lungs.

"Pancake day?"

He asks, chuckling as if he had forgotten. Peter and Harley take this question as permission to dog pile on Tony. He complains, but he doesn't mean it, they know because he's actually hugging them whilst complaining about being a trampoline. It helps him shake away the last dregs of the nightmare. They eventually let him up, pretty much only because he can't make pancakes from bed.

A quick shower helps his smile became more real, less brittle. Dressing in comfortable, morning clothes, activating Peters hand covering, which the kid really needs to name, but since BARF everyone banned him from naming their and his own inventions. Which is harsh in his opinion. FRIDAYs overly literally long names aren't exactly better. She'd likely call it '_Synthetic Skin Covering Device for Robot Hands_.' The kids are bouncing around the kitchen with impatience when he exits his room

"Who wants to go and invite the mini agents and mum over? Teacher Training day, even for you Pete, so we can have a biiiiiiig breakfast."

Tony laughs as the three kids immediately race to the door, laughing over who gets there first, and he starts producing an inordinate amount on pancakes. Thankful that he had thought ahead and made the batter last night. But he has 6 kids to feed, 1 enhanced and 2 adults, 1 also enhanced. Rhodey is out on his '_it's not a date Tony!'_ with Carol. Vision would be back from his latest trip today, this time he found a train station online with a ridiculously long name he didn't believe existed so he had had to go and see if it was actually real. Most of his trips are kind of weird lately he'd noticed.

It made for some fun pictures and was starting to reignite his wanderlust that he'd thought he'd sated in his youth. It was different this time however, he wasn't running, searching with an edge of desperation. Now he was calm, plotting and thinking about where he wanted to take all his kids. He had a feel all of them, including Vision would love his old stomping grounds in Catalan and Italy especially. There were still a few Carbonell's around Catalan that he was welcomed easily, and his mother had had family in Italy too. They'd been the first places he'd gravitated to after graduating.

By the time 5 kids stampede into the kitchen and set up the table, he's already made a lot of pancakes and they're sat warming in the oven as he carries on. Now they're back, he puts a bit more flare into flipping much to Lilah and Tara's delight. He's sure the boys enjoy it too, but they're teenagers and are therefore, not allowed to show as much glee by some surly teenage code that you forget when you become an adult.

Laura wordlessly comes and joins him, prepping all the toppings she can think off. The first time she'd been invited to pancake day she'd been wary, so had the kids, sticking to the edges of the chaos, he assumed it was a product of being isolated for so long.

The kids came around first, for Lilah it had taken pancakes with increasingly weird facial expressions until she cracked, bursting out laughing. Cooper was slower, he did it by constantly being there. The kid texted him? He answer. Kid needed him, he dropped pretty much everything to be there. Slowly Cooper realised Tony wasn't going anywhere and had opened up. He knew what it had cost the teen, Harley had similar issues so he had had practice. Plus, he always thought '_What would Howard do?_' Then he'd do the opposite. When the kid brought homework to him he'd been overjoyed.

Then Nate started teething, and Laura was going mad, looking after three children, alone, in a new environment after so many years of isolation and having to do everything herself. It was just too much for her. He tried to lighten the load with Lilah and Cooper, but Laura needed a break. She'd been 'on' for years, mostly alone. So, Tony had turned up at her door every night offering help. Nate was a terror for teething and one night she'd cracked, begging for help so she could just sleep. That she'd do X or Y. He'd just pulled them both into his apartment, Laura's room was a mess. Sent her to bed, utterly confused and sat up with a very fussy baby. Which had been weird and he wasn't sure if he was the best person for this job, but seeing Laura well rested 9 hours later, Nate had conked on his chest (no way in hell was he moving the demon child when he was silent!) it was worth it. When Tony set his mind to something, he usually achieved it.

He had won them over one by one, and now Lilah and Cooper practically stampeding around his house was a common enough occasion he didn't even blink. Tara huffing about correct plate placements, Lilah needing her special purple plates. The boys jumping on each other for some unknown reason, currently Peter was on the ceiling, holding Coopers arms to dangle him off of the floor and Harley was kicking paper balls at them. No idea why. Plus, he kept getting distracted from pancake duty by Nates cooing. The kid was so adorable it should be illegal. Plus, he'd gotten quite close to the kid after many late nights and he'd developed a range of teething products to ease the poor kids pain.

He wasn't sure when his life had become so domestic. But Laura was smiling more, she leaned on him more, she let him help with the kids and she at some point appointed herself his PA / Bodyguard. He didn't complain, one- she was terrifyingly efficient, she could give Pepper a run for her money, two- she reminded him of Aunt Peggy and three- She smiled more, he got the idea that she missed working, and possibly adult company. He knew the idea of living on the farm alone, even with the kids sounded absolutely horrible. It would be fun for a few months, tops. Then he'd need adult company and the kids would need kid company.

They make small talk, discussing the new inhabitants coming to the '_Chaos Floor_' as he'd dubbed it. They were at the top of the residential wing, the level for larger, multiroom apartments, that had ended up being housing for people with children. 3 of the 4 now filled. Compared to the 6 apartments of the other floors Children are pure embodiments of chaos. Thus, _Chaos Floor_.

Laura started taking over toppings and he carried on making pancakes, Peter has already '_sneakily_' eaten 4. Kid seriously needs some training on being sneaky, as soon as you work out to look up he's so easy to find and his subterfuge is useless. Now it's true than in general, humans don't look up. He should know, he used that fact himself multiple times as Ironman, but he was sneaker with rupulsers on fool compared to Peter. He grabbed a spatula and swatted him before he'd noticed what Tony was up to, flipping to the floor, about to complain but Tony stuck a spoonful of Nutella into his mouth. Utterly distracting the teen as he hummed happily around the spoon and picked up a plate to take to the table.

Flipping a coin with Laura, he gets Nate duty. Not that he is complaining at all, the person with Nate just has Nate, Laura gets to help _everyone_ else. He shoots her a grin, pancake day is perfect for Nate duty. 3 boys and 2 young girls with a variety of toppings? Yup. Chaos. Pure sugary, syrupy chaos. By the end there is Nutella, fruit and powdered sugar practically everywhere, mostly on Laura. He didn't get off clean either, Nate has clapped icing sugar in his face. The kids charge off to the TV, leaving the adults to clean the pancake bomb site, he doesn't mind however, they had fun and that's more important than a neat, orderly table in his books any day. Memories of stuff, overly formal silent breakfasts flash in his mind. No, this was better. Tony settles Nate in his play thingy, bouncing happily and joins Laura.

"Tony."

"Yup?"

"How did you get Nutella in your hair? Nate didn't even have Nutella."

Tony pats his head, coming away with a handful of Nutella, laughing and wipes as much as he can with wet wipes until he could wash his hair after.

"I don't think I even want to know...?"

"That's probably wise. I have powdered sugar in my bra and I'm not sure when, or how, that happened either."

They both burst out laughing as they finish up, Laura turns to head towards the kids leaving Tony to finish putting stuff away, but Tony holds her back.

"Hang on, I have a.. Thing."

"A thing? Very informative."

"Okay, I've done this enough that you'd think I'd get better at by now."

He mutters under his breath, just getting a raised eyebrow and a smile from Laura .

"Right, you know I was in a coma. Well, of course you do."

Tony rolls his eyes whilst Laura chuckles at him as he tries to work out how to do this. He generally avoids talking about 'them' with Laura. Spitting mad is an understatement at Roger's. Cold fury towards Clint. She and Nat however had been slowly repairing their relationship which made him happy. Although Nat had to stop relying on human anchors at some point for her own sake, but that was an uncomfortable conversation in his future, for now she was making progress.

"It's a hard thing to forget Tony. I didn't know you well, but you saved my family when you had not long left that hospital bed. I remember how dreadful you looked when you took the helmet off."

Oh yeah, he remembered that, he'd been okay until he forgot that the helmet blocked his vision. He'd not had it long then and he was fighting Ross' tac teams in his defence, so he'd kind of forgotten? Failing into old habits, then he took the helmet of and it all slammed back. He'd been very, very close to throwing up, or passing out, but he'd managed to stay conscious. Staring at the kids at helped him focus. He didn't want to scare them even more than they'd already been, what was worse was Coopers colours spoke of resignation and Lilahs of broken promises and abandonment. They'd expected their dad to save them and it was heart wrenching to him. It's why he'd thrown himself so completely into helping the family heal. She had learned he'd left his hospital bed to bring them home, the compound was in baby stages at that point. She had promptly marched him back with a tight thank you. Understandably not trusting him

Kids fluctuated more than adults and slowly started to settle as they grew. Adults could change, sure, could heal wounds from the past, but he'd noticed it was harder, scars lasted longer. Until they hit a certain point their colours were in flux and whilst scars were left, they bounced back better. He didn't want Coopers to land at such resignation that people would leave and betray him, like that was a fundamental fact of the universe. He wanted Lilah to know people could keep promises and not everyone left. Between the two of them, it was incredibly familiar feelings for him and no way was he letting that lay if he could help. Laura had been suspicious, she knew a lot about him from Clint, SHIELD and the media, so hardly nice things, she knew of his Tony Stark persona and that was about it. So having him suddenly so invested in her family had been concerning.

As time went on, she'd been scared the kids would learn to rely on him and he'd get bored and leave. When he sat reading the Hobbit to Lilah every night and bought science kits to help Cooper at school, when he left the lab at a seconds notice if she needed help with Nate she started to realise how serious he was. He picked up on it when one night she was flooded with guilt about how she had perceived him. She hadn't said anything but her colours were all stained with it. He'd stunned her by giving her a hug and telling her it was okay, he knew how people perceived him, he told her he was happy she'd come around and that was what mattered.

"Why, thank you. Such lovely compliments I get! In my own home as well..."

Laura promptly kicked his shin, his undignified yelp and hopping on one leg draws the attention of the kids, who just grin and congratulate Laura. Sass. Everywhere.

"Ow! Between you and Harley my shins are just bruises."

"So, is this 'Thing' anything to do with you practically permanently wearing glasses?"

"Um. Yes. I really underestimated how many people had noticed that. I was more injured than most people know, Rhodey had to use Extremis to save me, and it had some.. complications? I'm telling the team everything at a meeting later, but I wanted you and the Mini Agents to know first."

There are some benefits to telling Laura, he didn't have to explain Extremis for one and she'd seem a lot of weird. Even when she left SHIELD she kept up on things. Tony puts the last of the plates away as Laura drains the sink, she turned to face him, leaning casually on the side. Angling himself away from the kids, as it'll be Laura's choice if they know about this, he slipped the glasses off. Laura's eyes widened slightly but apart from that she didn't show much reaction, even her colours. Stable and safety, that was Laura. Was it any wonder he always wanted mom hugs off of her?

"I'm assuming this is an Extremis you modified? As I don't remember the others having blue eyes, more orange, and I don't think you're going to explode."

"Yes, it's one I tweaked with in my spare time. It doesn't have the exothermic issue as the original because I cut out the part that tries to rebuild dead tissue. It was just too unstable with that function, practically impossible to balance. So I can't cut of a limb and have it grow back, but I don't explode. Which is good because I don't want to explode."

He can hear Peter chuckling behind him and he knows the kid can hear their conversation.

"So, your left eye?"

"Beyond saving unfortunately. The right had just enough live nerves that Extremis could fix it, same with most of the damage, bar this."

Tony tapped the code to reveal his hand.

"Oh Tony, what on earth happened to you."

"Got into a fight, suit was disabled and got to enjoy the beauty of spring in Siberia from a metal coffin."

Tony said, he was going for light snark but it came off more bitter. He shook his head, offering her a smile. He avoided saying much else, conscious that Peter could hear. The kid knew who he'd been in the fight with, he'd refused to leave his hospital room and he'd woken up screaming _Steve_ too many times for him to not know. That didn't mean he was going to burden him with other details however.

"Anyway, it's been pointed out to me, hiding from my family is negatively affecting my '_mental health_' and I'm not progressing with control. And to be honest. I'm sick of wearing the Damned glasses around everyone. I want to.."

"Not be on guard 24/7? I understand Tony and I'm happy you told me."

"Me too."

"So your eye? You can see out of it?"

"Oh yeah, I can see more, kind of like Strange, maybe, I get impressions from people."

Laura nods as if that was a puzzle piece she had been missing about him but just smiled at him, not asking the hundred questions that most others come up with when they find out.

"Shall we go show the kids?"

"What? You mean just walk over there? Just like that?"

"Yup" Laura grinned, popping the P. "We could bet to see how long it takes them to notice. I bet lilah sees your hand first."

Tony blinks a few times before smiling as Laura's easy acceptance of him flutters around him at this proximity, warming him that little bit more inside. He'd never thought he'd make it here. Never thought he'd be able to let people in again, he'd been determined not to, but kids man. They were impossible to keep out. At least for him.

"Cooper will spot my eyes first I think, what does the winner get?"

"Next time the lot of us go out for lunch, loser is on kid wrangling duty, out of sequence. You are next up so if I win I'll get 2 dinners in a row. Oooh, when Meg gets here we can invite them to our outings and we'll have more people to cycle!"

"That's a great idea, Tara and Lilah will probably love Cassie too… what even is my life now? Go back a decade and tell me I'd have super powers and me plotting going out with kid wrangling and I'd fall over laughing."

Tony grinned, definitely weird, but a really good weird. Happy weird. Just what he'd needed weird

Domesticity was something he hadn't even conceived of, getting weird powers was more likely than this.

"Hmm, but good weird? And we can discuss your super powers later? Hope you have some fun ones. I suspect now you've 'come out' as it were, you lot will be joining us for breakfasts in the common room more?"

Tony blinks. Everyone was much better at accepting this than him it seems. So far people had been amazingly chill. He wasn't sure if he was happy or if it was kind of annoying.. He'd expected someone to yell at him, or to be disappointed in him. To see it as altering himself in his arrogance, to gain power. He hadn't realised how much he'd been waiting for someone to react like how he suspected Roger's would until just now. Since Ultron the super soldier had not hidden his disappointment in him, hadn't hidden how he thought him reckless, egotistical and selfish, hadn't hidden his concern that Tony would do something like Ultron again. Hadn't stopped the others from sniping at him, but gotten disappointed or angry if Tony had ever snapped back. It was like the man was blind to anyone's comments but his own.

He'd gotten so used to it, it so similar to his childhood, being expected to fuck up, that this easy acceptance had unnerved him. He knew that if he had not gotten his Sight, he wouldn't have believed it. Thought it a trick. As much as it bothered him on occasion, he realised he was in some way, thankful for it. He'd seen people through a cloud of bias his whole life, never able to trust people saying good things, that he had to poke, prod, test and push. It was a miracle Rhodey, Pep and Happy had put up with it. He shook his head from his dark thoughts.

"Yup, definitely good weird, my favourite kind of weird. I'm a technopath now, which sounds utterly ridiculous, but the best description we've come up with. That is also the plan, see more adult humans. If people already know, I'll be less paranoid of slipping up, so I can spend more time around people."

Tony smiled, scooped up a babbling Nate before he thought about it, it had become a normal, muscle memory thing for him. He liked holding the little kid so he snagged him often. It wasn't until Nate was excitedly patting his temples,poking at his eyes, that he realised he was glasses free. That he was focused on his brightly glowing left eye and realised it probably reminded him of the nightlight Tony made. He'd noticed Nate loved the Arc Reactors, so he'd made a mind one and a picture frame fitting for it. It slotted in the middle and a spiral lit up from the centre, the outer frame glowed brightly too. Twisting it change the brightness, he'd made one for Tara too that had a projector attack that projected stars on her ceiling. He was currently building Lilah one too and trying to work out a manly way of for Coop who had showed interest but was embarrassed to ask outright.

"Well, I think Nate likes you better without glasses and that's great, we miss you when you can't come. Lilah made a 'Cushion Uncle Tony' to save your spot until you are healed enough to join everyone more often."

Laura said casually over her shoulder, waiting for Tony's brain to Reboot and trying not to grin. Surprised that his presence had been missed.

"And out of all the abilities I saw a few at SHIELD, a tech related one suits you perfectly. There was one girl who could read hard drives by touching them.."

"Oh yeah, I can do that. But I think I have wireless."

She grinned and flopped comfortably into the armchair she claimed as hers when they did breakfast together with just the 2 families.

"So will I have to evict Cushion Tony when I start coming to team brekkies?"

Tony asked the kids, eyebrow raised as he dropped onto the sofa with Nate, in between Lilah and Tara, in his claimed spot. Peter and Cooper, despite having ample chair space, were sat on the rug in front of his seat playing Mario Kart. Glancing around he realised the kids sort of surrounded him, how had he not noticed that before? Laura gave him a knowing look, smiling, obviously amused at how oblivious he had apparently been.

Cooper was crowing his victory as Peter sulked, startling him out of his thoughts as Peter leaned back onto his leg. Harley was grinning from the other armchair, kicking Peter gently in the shoulder with a socked foot for losing. Tony was laughing along when Cooper brought everyone's attention to Tony.

"Wow! Uncle Tony! When did you get a different eye! Is this why you've always been wearing glasses? Can you see out of it? I mean there isn't a pupil, so can it see? Does it glow in the dark? Can you change its colour? "

Coopers barrage of questions that Tony had been blinking at utterly cracked Harley up and reminded Tony of a much younger Harley. He could tell the kids had been spending a lot of time with each other. Also, Ha, he won that bet, he shot Laura a grin.

"Um, 2 months ago, yes, kind of, yes and I don't think so?"

He glanced at Lila to make sure she's okay with this latest 'Uncle Tony development'. She's more interested with his hand, that he isn't that shocked about, his Lilly-bean is his little engineer in training, he'd been slowly building up her set of tools. Everything was purple and glittery, he hadn't known you could get them purple and glittery and he suspected FRIDAY had something to do with it.

He sits back, passes Nate to Laura as Cooper wiggles in next to him to ask 500 questions. Laura watched in entertainment as her kids wrangle as much details out of Tony as possible. She however sulked when she saw Tony had '_fountain of youth'ed_' himself. Tony is smug for all of 5 seconds until Laura points out, that with his new youthful exuberance he clearly should get extra wrangling duties.

…..

A while later Tony was nervous about this team meeting business. Telling people one on one is one thing and he thinks he's got that down now. Telling a whole bunch of people? _Yikes_. He had a long shower to get rid of the Nutella and apparently powdered sugar he hadn't noticed down his back. Smartened himself up, not a full suit, not exactly required for a team meeting. Chucking on a black full sleeved shirt that he could slip his thumb through the sleeve. It had a silver star on the right pocket and was one of Harleys finds a shocking amount of his wardrobe came from them now.

Apparently Cooper and Lilah wanted in too and Tony idly wonders about the intelligence of letting the hyper hoard dress him. Considering FRIDAYS propensity to order anything vaguely iron man related, it could be worse. The Black pinstripe trousers have silver thread worked in too. For a girl who consistently wears odd socks, Tara is oddly invested in him match things up. Pepper had been dubious of this 'this kids are dressing me' thing but decided that the kids were more likely to get him into less ridiculous items of clothing and speaks to them directly about it. Because why would he need to be consulted on what he wears? He's also pretty sure his outfits weren't that bad before either..

Slipping on his silver aviators, he decides he's quite fine with this new system. But then the kids love it and he is utterly wrapped around their fingers. They are with Laura now, Jim and Maggie had gotten in when he was looking after the kids during the post breakfast hyper-burst when Laura went on mission, so he swapped out for this meeting when they got back, plus they all wanted to introduce Cassie to the wonders of living at the compound. He reminded them to go slow, and they nodded very seriously, they all knew what it was like to find to the compound during trying times, he trusted the munchkins. Well, he trusted Peter to remind Lilah and Tara why they couldn't just drag Cassie everywhere on day one.

He makes his way to the meeting room, very early. Mostly out of nerves and sat himself down in the comfy chairs in the far corner of the room. Maybe if he hides in the corner he can hold off on Strange seeing him and yelling at him. The man and his weird magic, Tony is sure that he'll 'Know' something, likely in a similar way that he 'Sees' stuff. At least his isn't magic. His phone rings, jarring him out of his musings on magic, seeing its Shuri he placed it in front of him, bringing up the holoscreen and answering the call.

"Hi Dr Stark! Your parcel arrived!"

"Yay, and Princess, we talked about this. You can call me Tony. By the end of this year I expect you and Peter to call me Tony!"

Now he had Peters hand cover (really needs a better name!) he could talk with his hands, finally. Much better. He practically had to sit on his hand to not slip up on more than one occasion. He gave her his '_I'm an unimpressed dad face_', but it was spoilt a little with the grin on his face, causing her to grin back.

"Hmmm, maybe, but you will have to call me Shuri instead of Princess. Plus, not enough people use your Doctor title, it makes me want to use it more."

Tony's eyebrows shot up at that, wondering what prompted it.

The rogues loved to just call him Stark, it annoyed him nearly as much as people he knew outside of business calling him 'Mr Stark', that was always Howard to him.

"Ah, to be perpetually underestimated. Of course, you know what it's like, Princess."

He grinned at her laughter, he'd been coaching her, instead of getting annoyed at people underestimating her for a multitude of reasons. To wield it like a sword instead. She was quite vicious with it and he loved it.

"The last council meeting was fun, I finally got to talk to your Rhodey! My brother was quite confused when he would only talk to me!"

The two of them laughed, she'd sent the clips to him at the time of course. They'd been subtly trolling her brother for weeks now, much to Tony's amusement, he hadn't told Rhodey why he was having a spat with T'Challa, but Rhodey was happy to play along for amusements sake. Although is Rhodey knew why he suspected his Sour patch would be a little more active in his irritation.

"Rhodey doesn't even know why I'm annoyed! How is King Kitty doing? Enjoy my presents?"

"He was utterly baffled about how you got them to us, I think he actually thought no one knew the idiots were here!"

"Well, just me and the kids know. They know not to blab. I don't want your brothers offer of generosity to hurt your home. Plus it is probably better for the planet that you have them contained."

The idea of them running around was not good, at least in Wakanda they stayed put. Shuri had told him about their demands to set up Wakanda as a base ops to run Avengers missions from. The king had said no, obviously, they also were not Avengers anymore. He'd sorted out legally under the Accords and copyright that he owned the title '_Avengers_'.

Well, Rogers did say the Avengers were his, he took the people, so he kept the brand. Plus Fury had transferred practically everything over to him after SHIELD, probably to ensure he carried on funding them. Funny how things worked out really.

"I know, but they're so annoying. Rogers has asked me for a new shield twice this week alone. He demanded it be vibranium too!"

"Oh what did you tell him this time?"

Tony leaned forward, he really didn't care much about the rogues, not now, but he did care about Shuri's snark. They were 2 peas in a snarky pranking pod. He wondered if Shuri had told T'Challa it had been his and the kids idea to tin foil over everything in his room. Shuri said it had taken ages but Okoye, who was fast becoming one of his favourite people, had gleefully joined in. T'Challa so far had no idea that Okoye had developed a sudden love for pranks, and that was not his fault at all.

"I told him that I'm sorry he feels so scared that he requires a shield but reminded him that Wakanda is well defended. He looked utterly baffled at my offense."

"I'm not shocked, they always wanted new gear and I don't think they noticed I personally made everything for them. It was just expected. Until I started working with my new guys I thought that was normal."

Tony shook his head to put thoughts of the rogues away. He thought about them less these days, but occasionally he'd turn and expect Steve in the kitchen, Clint up in the vents that were now being person proofed. He couldn't resize them without a lot of work, but there were welded grills being put in place to make moving more than half a room virtually impossible. Only Goose with her currently being installed cat flaps could travel when it was complete. Then there was Wilson, with his magazines, everywhere. The jock who reads psychology journals and leaves them in strange places. He found one in the breadbin once. Wanda is less pleasant, all he remembers is scowls, evil smirks and cold fear at tendrils of red. He tried to be nice but looking back he realised there was no point.

"I think I might have dropped enough hints around my brother now that he might do more than just sulking about their presence. Oh, and expect some presents from him, he's finally realised you are mad at him!"

Hmm, wonder what the King will send? He's not used to gifts really. Except watches, rich people always give other rich people watches. He has so many it's actually ridiculous. He could probably wallpaper a wall with them, not sure if that's a wonderful idea or awful..

"Took him long enough, I was actually considering hiring a skywriter if the call didn't work."

"You did give him a plushy though."

She ribbed him gently, he smiled however. She knew that whilst he was kind of miffed at her brother, he was just holding onto his anger for anger's sake. He knew that soon enough the naive, earnest King would be fine, they had a surprising amount in common, thrust into positions of power young. T'Challa had a much better support system however but Tony still had concern for the man. His efforts to subtly protect him politically speaking in the UN and with politics in Africa. At least what he could do anonymously and not outright chucking his very white self into the mix. He just wanted to play a supporting role for the two Royals. Especially after their father passed.

"Well, I don't hate his Royal Kittiness, he's still quite young and naive, especially when it comes to people all shiny and perfect looking like Rogers. Captain Spandex is easy to believe in his earnest ways. When he realises that he lies as much as anyone else.."

Tony shrugged. Few people saw beneath the shiny perfection to the stubborn arrogance beneath. He should know, he was stubborn and arrogant and he and Rogers often buttered head on fundamental things. Rogers was standing up for his principles. He was usually seen as being belligerent for no reason. An annoying double standard born of this ridiculous notion he had no principles.

"I'm sure we can wake him up eventually, he was very angry when I left him. Maybe Mr Rogers is going to get a visit."

"Oh, that I HAVE to see!"

"I'll make sure to send you the footage, I of course will not be there. The Witch has taken to hanging on to him like a leech. Although it's had a knock on effect of them bothering me in my lab less since I banned the little witch from my presence."

Tony's laughs tapered off first fear hit him, that was drowned out by concern by Shuri. He blames it on spending time with all the kids, apparently he was a collector now and Shuri had snuck her way into the pack. Ever since Shuri had called him in a rage and showed him footage of the witch sneaking up behind her.. It had happened barely a day after he'd discovered the footage of her doing it to him. He'd managed to hold off the panic attack till he got off of the phone, but it had been a bad one. He had fried half his lab and fully left his body in a way, he'd spent 3 hours bouncing around various servers and the Internet until FRIDAY had found him.

He liked having the witch gone, he liked having the rogues contained. He also felt guilty they had to deal with the witch. Not that he wanted her with him, but at least then she wouldn't be tormenting anyone else. Rhodey had called him an idiot when he'd told him that, that Tony also didn't deserve to suffer either. They could disagree on that anyway. He mostly didn't want her near the kids.

"She hasn't tried anything again has she? I don't know what I'd do if she got to you too."

Shuri gave him an encouraging smile that eased the tightness of his chest.

"Nope" She grinned, popping the P. "She'd have to get within several buildings of me for that. Sometimes I go close to where ever they are, just to amuse myself with her being forced back to the villa."

Tony burst out laughing at that, he felt almost as light as he had at breakfast. His kids, and yes, Shuri was in on that even though she didn't know it, always could make him feel better. Carol stuck her head through the door and gave him a little wave. He checked the time and realised the meeting was about to start.

"That's brilliant, Princess. I have to go for now, I hope you like the dress, Peter found that! Don't forget to occasionally take breaks and eat!"

"Ha, coming from you that is hilarious. Goodbye Dr Stark, I'll text you later with his response to BARF!"

Tony shut down the Holoscreen as Carol and Rhodey entered the room.

"Damn boy. You are on time for a meeting. Early even!"

"Hey now Sour patch, I'm always on time for Carols meetings."

He winked at Carol, who sat down next to Tony looking very smug whilst Rhodey spluttered and wheeled himself to the empty spot next to Tony where the chair had been removed. He pushed a lever next to the seat and his chair raised him up so he was on the level with everyone else.

Vision floated in from the ceiling at the same time Hope and Jessica walked in from the door like sensible people. Vision offered him a supportive smile at the same time he sent pictures to him alongside a brush of code. He grinned at him, chuckling at the picture of Vision floating next to a ridiculously long train station sign. He asked if he could send the picture on to the kids and he nodded. He sent it to Carol and Rhodey too. They were grinning at the picture when Danny and Luke came in, a few minutes later Matt entered the room too. He asked Danny a question and Danny brought Matt straight to him. 'Oh no, this isn't Ultron yet is it?'. He tried to keep the immediate panic down of dealing with both things.

"Tony"

"Yes Matt?"

"I just checked my bank account, why am I being paid twice?"

"Um mmmmm. Yeah?"

"One of them is also a lot more than we discussed!"

"Well, technically you are employed twice because of your secret identity. So, 2 sets of payments."

Tony shrugged as it it made perfect sense, Jessica and Luke were cracking up and Matt just looked mostly confused.

"I'm not going to win this argument am I?"

"Nope! And you are paid the same rate as all the on call lawyers at SI, you're on call here. Plus I don't handle the team members payments, it's taken from a multifund of me, Danny and Hope now."

Matt shook his head and headed to his seat, muttering about infuriating engineers, everyone got comfortable chatting in small groups whilst they waited for the ever unfashionably late Dr Wiz. Carols phone trilled and she frowned.

"Strange is going to be even more late than usual, at least he got Wong to text this time, I say we start without him if that's OK Tony?"

"Oh hell yes, that's makes it easier, I was sure he'd but in and poke around with his 'wizardry senses'." 9

Tony waived his hands dramatically, making everyone laugh. Plus he wanted some time to deal with people's colours a bit before Strange got here. Most of his unconscious trips were because of Stephy, and that was at a distance without him even knowing he was there. Unless he really focused, the team colours flowed together. He still got light impressions but nothing pulling him under.

Danny still had a sense of uncertainty about him that had resulted in he and Hope taking him on like a baby duckling to teach him the ways of boring galas and networking. He was a mix of green usually, with some yellow thrown in. Lots of energy he didn't seem to know what to do with.

Luke, was this quiet solid strength. Like stone but different, Tony had actually spent time Googling rocks to find something '_Luke-like_' so he could name it in his mind as '_weird rock_' was a bit strange really. He finally settled that he looked like prescilli bluestone. He was just like a grounding force to those he spoke too, Tony liked it when he came around because his colours moved so slow they were practically stationery and had pulled him back from passing out more than once.

Jessica was a lot like the glimpses of him that he'd caught. But he mostly ignored what he saw of himself, pretty easy to do actually. Jessica was this beautiful deep, deep purple entwined with the striking black ebony. She was one of his favourites, and not just because there were cracks splintered through. The Black always gave him so much information but not at an overload, maybe it was their similarities but he'd been able to read Jess easier than the others. It practically punched into him. Power, fear, strength, mystery, the cracked filled with this shining silver that sparked like magnesium on fire, compassion with a sense of justice that made him smile.

Matt was all reds. Every red different from the other, he could probably stare at Matt for an hour and probably still see more reds. That's one of the reasons he wanted them so together for this, so he wouldn't get lost in them, just skim the surface and check on people. Matt was intelligent, secretive and tortured by his own violence, but that was changing he'd noticed. Strength, power, passion and determination was shining more and more each time he saw him. That made him smile, Matt had cracks too, so many of them did that it made Tony feel a bit better, but for Tony, his cracks had chasms.

He glanced at Vision again and grinned. Vision didn't have colours, he had code. It was all a bright, shining gold that whirled around him. Sometimes like a shield when his new emotions overwhelmed him. Sometimes it glitched, repeating over and over, like a computer version of panic he was sure that was. Strength and purity were always there, kindness too. He kept getting more complex every week as he grew and Tony was amazed, they spoke about his code sometimes, occasionally he'd try and write bits down so they could both see it.

Hope was like a sun, bursting with different oranges, so intelligent but pushed back and kept down with her dad that she hid it just like him. So now it explodes and sparks around her, red wound its way around her too, but for her it was distrust. Life had taught her to be wary and the red wound around her like a snake, strangling some of her other colours, he was happy to see that the green within it had made headway, growing like scales, displacing the red. Wisdom, loyalty and trust.

'-ny Tony, are you okay?"

He snapped his eyes to Carol and realised he had slumped in his chair, his mouth was drying and his head was spinning a little. He slipped from skimming to getting pulled in without even noticing it. But, he was conscious, so that's a win. Some of peoples colours had started interacting with those around them, reaching out and connecting, which meant he had focused too hard when he started checking on people. He mentally pulled himself back and looked again, this time he could see only the most dominant colours and the weren't sucking him in.

"How.. Urm, how long?"

"A few minutes, are you okay? You don't have to do this."

He glanced around the room again, seeing concern on people's face and seeing it in their colours as they shifted their full focus onto him. They weren't annoyed at him holding up the meeting like he'd suspected, they were worried about him. Jessica was sparking brightly with it, Hope a strong steady warmth reaching out to him. Carol and Rhodey, steel and electricity mingling to surround him, strength and protective reds whirling around Matt, Visions code shield.. But for him... Luke a quiet rock offering grounding and Danny was almost vibrating with nerves. He actually had to blink a few times because Holy crap, having this many people actively caring for his wellbeing was overwhelming as fuck.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just slipped is all."

He could see the confusion on people's faces, but they sat and waited patiently for him to get his bearings.

"So, um, I guess your all wondering why I called you here today? Well, I'm done '_recovering_' and can start working again. I'm still not.. Able to be on the active roster, I need to train with you guys before that."

"Aw Tony, I've been looking forward to seeing you fly, because then you get to take me up."

Jessica grinned at him, she really was excited about the idea of flying too, which was awesome.

"We'll I might be ok for that, I don't know. I'm a bit weird now?"

"You've always been weird Tech."

Hope grinned at him, she hadn't called him Tech in ages, since they were young enough to think they'd been good at naming each other. it had started as a way to send each other stuff without their parents knowing who was getting it, he smirked back, knowing she hated her nickname with a passion now.

"I dunno Blueberry, compared to you I'm practically normal."

Everyone was glancing between the two, glee obvious on some of their faces.

"We are hearing the story behind this later.. Right?"

Danny was grinning widely now and Hope her face in her hands.

"I should have known you'd call me that. Tech was much better than sodding Blueberry."

"Ha, yes, I will tell all about Blueberry and Technical Difficulties adventures of boarding school one day. For now this is Tony Stark and the coma."

Everyone snapped to look at him and leaned forward at that. Carol and Rhodey each squeezed one of his legs.

" So, you all know I spent 10 days in a coma and then mostly vanished for 2 months right? "

Everyone nodded and stayed quiet, which was a miracle in itself as they usually derailed somehow with some random conversations. It was nice though when it happened, not bickering, more like an organic conversation.

"Well I was slipping deeper into the coma, my previous health issues combined with recent injuries that landed me in the coma, the human body can push so far and I'm pretty sure I was living on spite and coffee before that happened."

He chuckled in his usual self deprecating way, everyone just looked supportive, (Vision, Carol and Rhodey) concerned, (Danny and Luke) alarmed, (Hope) and downright angry (Matt and Jess).

"Rhodey stepped in with Extremis, a version I used to have heart surgery to remove my arc reactor. Dr Cho also used the cradle in hopes they could heal the.. Uh damage. But it just wasn't working. The damage was too bad, the hospital was arguing that it wanted to.. "

He rubbed his face. This bit was harder than he thought. Talking about nearly having several amputations wasn't fun. Even with practice.

"It was bad. After 6 days, it had been long enough for my 'MamaBear' protocol to switch to Rhodey. Basically gave him access to private servers if I'm gone, out or dead for 6 days incase there is anything important Rhodey needs to know that FRIDAY can't say without my permission. She'd been counting down the seconds, because I had another version of Extremis. "

" This is the virus that blew people up right? "

Hope looked concerned, everyone else was leaning forward.

" Yup, that's the one. It was intended to heal war vets that had lost limbs. But it was frankly, messed up, the heat created when regrowing dead tissue left people volatile and it was so unstable people exploded."

"And you have had this twice?!"

Poor Danny.

"Im fine, no exploding! And three times actually. The version hidden in my private server was more of a thought experiment than anything else. Never intended to be seen by anyone but me and never used. FRIDAY was meant to delete it if I was gone, but she got around it by showing Rhodes who ordered her not to."

"What did you do to it?" Hope asks and a few people echoed it.

"What didn't I do? I stripped it bare and built in tons of stuff. But I never tested it, it was stable though. Unlike the other versions, I can't disable it, it's coded into my DNA. But I'd be dead or in… bad shape without it. It can't regrow entirely dead nerves like the original, but there was enough that it could work on for most parts. I only lost one of my hands. "

Everyone looks at his hands in confusion. As they're both there. He up buttons his left sleeve and rolls it up to his elbow and they turns off the cover.

" Holy shit you have a robot hand! That's freaking awesome. "

He grins, typical Danny finds this amusing. Everyone is torn between that's awesome and looking upset that he lost a hand.

"The only other thing that it couldn't save was one of my eyes. But I can't complain, I was 100% blinded until then, now my right eye is fine and my left eye was.. Replaced? Yeah. Replaced. I'm assuming you all knew I had an arc reactor in my chest? Well that run originally on Palladium."

Hope sucked in a breath at that, and glared at him. Oops, might have not told her about the nearly dying thing. Matt was looking at him in sympathy for the blinded comment and others looked confused at Hopes reactions, some looked horrified. The room split on who knew palladium was poisonous basically.

"As palladium isn't a fun thing to have in the body, I needed something else. But nothing worked, so I made a new element."

"How the fuck do you make an element?" from Jessica and several what's from others. Carol looked impressed, Rhodey annoyed as he remembered that all too well, with his rants on how ridiculous it was to threaten a man whose life depended on the electromagnet in his chest working with being razed.

"Whilst nearly dying and with agents threatening to taser me, build a particle accelerator and woop, new element."

Most people just blinked at him, Carol just looked at him in quiet horror, glancing at Rhodey. Yeah he had a feeling Carol would like the longer versions of these stories oddly.

"It's called Starkanium." Hope jumped in to break the awkward silence that hell at that.

"They rejected Badassium." Tony pouts.

"What is your life? Because even from our perspective man, that's weird."

Luke grinned at him which got everyone chuckling again. A few people saying that one day they wanted the entire story to Tony's laughing.

"So, I had this in me for a while. The element, Howard actually found it, working with the tesseract."

Carol sat up at that point, he must have missed that bit, he made a note to ask her about it later because he felt something.. Else around her now he'd gotten more used to her colours. Like a matching tuning fork buzz. As he'd been nervous of accidentally outing himself before, it had meant he'd not spent a lot of time near her. Now that he'd spent more time with her and closer too and it had become more obvious.

He felt something around Vis too weirdly, he'd thought it was just the technopathy, until recently feeling something from Carol, the buzz was much stronger with her though. Made him want to curl up and nap next to her again weirdly. Very comfy vibe.

He wondered if Vis had that with Wanda, and if that's what they'd built their short, badly ended, romance on. Them both being from the mind stone, maybe Starkanium had more of a presence than he'd really thought about, just blaming everything on Extremis. Just maybe it was like he and Carol were from the tesseract, another weird space object. He kind of understood the pull for Carol because of that, but Vis was confusing, yeah Loki used the mind stone and wanted the tesseract, but they were utterly different things that weren't even slightly related. He shot Carol a smile and mouthed that he was sorry he missed that out.

"So yeah, even though I had the arc reactor out, apparently traces of it were still there, and the Extremis Virus I made really, really liked it. Lucky too because that meant it liked Vibranium as they're similar so my body didn't reject my… my hand. I'd been concerned Extremis would try to detach it by healing or something."

These people were too easy to talk too, that was a slip he wasn't ready for, Carol raised an eyebrow, Tony just shrugged.

"So it replaced my eye, and it's a bit weird, so um, don't freak out?"

With that he pulled his glasses off and glanced around the room.

"Matt as you can't see, one of my eyes is just like a blue glow? I can see out of it, really well in fact. Much more than a human. Pretty sure my eyesight trumps Hawkeyes now by a mile."

Rhodey sniggered whilst everyone looked at the changes Tony had gone through.

" So. And this is the bit I don't know how people will react to. I can.. See things with this eye. It's not like mind reading or anything. I think you could describe it as seeing auras like Strange but without that magic shit. I see colours around people that give me.. Intuition maybe? Yeah, that sounds about right. Gives me ideas of what they're like. I can't always work it out, it's super subjective and it's the reason why I occasionally pass out. Or zone of like I did earlier, sometimes it can be a bit _much_. Also I won't go around blabbing stuff I see about you guys. "

" Yeah, he's super strict about it. But if you bring him chocolate, he'll tell you about yourself though."

Rhodey hopped in for him, knowing Tony was close to panic rambling, bless his honeybear. He glanced around at everyone, trying to get an idea of how they felt about it. Most seemed interested, he was terrified to look at Jess, and was surprised to see her smile at him. He'd been worried she'd see him badly after that. She just rolled her eyes at him and flipped him off. Which was basically a hug from Jess.

"So, I'm also a technopath now."

"Your a what now?"

"Ha, Hope, urm. Remember when I melted your dad's server farm?"

"Yeah?"

"That was not long after I woke up but I was still learning how to control it, I chased the hacker in my mind, saw your dad and it made me angry.. Which accidentally melted the server farm."

Tony shrugged sheepishly as Hope replied.

"I'm starting to see why you took some time out! But training now is probably smart. Anything else?"

"I got a boost in the usual, durability, speed, strength, the usual. I don't know how much, but I'm really fast now at least. Oh."

He scrubbed the makeup off with the wipes he brought specifically for it and Hope just burst out laughing.

"I can't breathe fire though like the original Extremis guys…Blast a rocket through me and I don't know if I could heal it. They were terrifyingly strong too, I don't think I'm that strong. But I think I'm faster than they were. Getting a read on the extent of them was hard as they were trying to kill me."

"Don't worry Tony, we'll put you through the ringer."

Jessica looks way, way too happy about this, as does Carol… And Hope. So the girls want to beat him up. Charming.

"So, any questi-"

"Sorry I'm late everyon- HOLY FUCK TONY. WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Tony actively considered climbing under the table but was still mostly shocked Strange apologised for being late. Or at least started too.

"Ah, urm, Hi Stephy. How are you doing?"

"So. This is why you've avoided seeing me in person?"

"That would be a yes. Yup."

Strange sighs and crosses the room, looking critically at him, no not at him. Around him. So this is what people feel like when he does it to , it's just as creepy as he worried it would be. He likes to think he'd more subtle about it however.

He has to really focus when looking at Strange. He's extremely different to other people. Gold swirling disks with strange symbols move in and around him. Actually in him. That's new. There are swirls that are silvery like mirrors, occasionally reflecting but it shifts, with glimmers of other things... His colours and there are a lot, are utterly brain fuckingly amazing, he's fractured too, worse than Jess, more like him. He has an ebony too but it's tarnished in places, and the cracks and bursting with gold. He basically screams strength and endurance.

His Oranges and red for arrogance and ego wrap tightly around a vibrant purple that if you blink, you'll miss it. He thinks that is his soft side, loyalty, it's corded like steel though. Very strong splashes and drops of pink burst around him, telling Tony that he is reading something in his aura. Tony's current favourite is the blue that is slowly starting to shimmer around him, a really pretty blue that is like the sky, it changes as you look at it, like day becoming night and back again. Trust and acceptance blinking in and out.

So yes Stephen is.. Different. He's currently just happy he hasn't passed out or blurted something out. Both wins. Also, there is the same sense he gets with Carol and Vis again, but different and it's not him, but on him.. Weird, before he can consider it Danny speaks, jarring him out of following the weird feeling.

"So. Um.. How long are they going to just stand there staring at each other?"

Danny blurts out after several minutes, Hope replies..

"Not a clue, but I don't think they're staring at each other.."

"Your right, they're staring around each other."

"This is getting kind of uncomfortable.."

Jess and then Luke join in which snaps Tony and Strange out at the same time. Both of them looking like the emerged from water.

"God you are an idiot."

Tony doesn't get to reply beyond a startled squeak as Strange pulls him in for a hug. He hugs the man back though, which startles Strange a bit, but Tony saw flashes a thin red zipping through his colours and knows that for some reason, Strange actually, really cares about him. Everyone is staring at them, open mouthed. Jess subtly takes a picture with her phone, proof and likely, blackmail material, that Stephen Strange hugs people, Tony winks at her over Stephens shoulder and sees a notification in his mind that she sent it to him. He is so framing it because it will annoy Stephy.

Plus he has pictures in his apartment now, it's still sleek and modern, but instead of Pepper or paying people to decorate, he and the kids did it. So it's a bit weird, Harley, Peter, Tony and Tara is generally going to be weird. Peter insisted on pictures, and apparently pictures are like tattoos or pringles. You put up 1 and then you can't see the wall

It's also true, they'd known each other for decades, so he should know if the man likes him... but they were both snarky, sarcastic arseholes. Whilst Tony had liked him and saw him as a friend, he was never sure it was reciprocated, because Tony is kind of shit at dealing with humans. As a rule he has noticed, if he thinks people hate him they seem to care about him and if he thought they cared about him they tried to kill him. '_It's probably bad that's a category with more than 1 person_.' He muses to himself.

"Tony, what happened in Siberia?"

He freezes and Strange releases him so he can see him.

"Can't you.. See it or anything."

Tony waves his hands around, Strange raised an eyebrow at him.

"Can you See what happened to me?"

"No, it's not like that.. Also you are.. Different."

That makes Strange blink. He figures at some point they were going to sit down and Strange would bug him for every detail.

"You are too, you've always been a little different but now. You have weird stuff going on and I'm not even talking about your flashlight eye."

Tony bust out laughing about that before telling Stephen to sit and giving him the same run down as before. But he can tell it's not enough, somehow he knows something about Siberia.

"Tony?"

"Fine, fine, I probably should show you so anyway as it is Avengers related. You all know about the Civil War there is one fight I have kept.. Hidden. The Winter Soldiers didn't put me in a coma."

He turns on the wall screen mentally, causing a few people to jump before they move around so everyone is facing the wall. Oops, probably sound have mentioned the wall could do that before turning it on. Rhodey just gives him a withering glare before fishing a pair of headphones out of his bag.

"I can't watch this again either and I can't put my brain into the Internet."

**Stephen POV**

Stephen is.. On edge. He's been on edge for weeks and he didn't know why. Well, he knew why. It happened in July, something happened. He didn't know what but it hurt and he blacked out for 2 days. Whilst he might not have been the Sorcerer Supreme for long, this was too annoying, as well as the sense of dread that had built as time went on.

It had peaked when he heard Tony was in a coma for about a week after he'd woken up. They'd been searching for what had happened in many different dimensions, and not no where.

The tiny, eccentric, over energised man was an irritating, arrogant, annoyingly kind, forgiving and nice brother. He didn't want to like him when they met, heck he had actively tried not to like him. But they clicked, they were both outsiders that saw the world differently to those around them and people viewed them in a certain way. They both spent their days searching, hunting and striving for.. More. Because without that something, they got bored.

They got closer when they both ended up away from normal and in this life of magic and superheroes, but then Tony vanished. Then he was in a coma and he vanished again.

When he walked in the room Tony's aura blanketed out everything else that his senses were almost stunned into shock. The Cloak rippled with agitation too. There was pain, so much of it that it was hard to breathe past. Where as some people have sharp, jagged parts, that was practically all Tony was now. Like he'd been shattered over and over. Betrayal after betrayal. His heart broken, it was just so fucking much and so much worse that last time. There was some smoothing out though, somehow he was healing.

Stephen isn't even sure how he's standing let alone that he can still manage the trust and love required to heal. He could pick up words here and there too, he didn't want to delve too deep because that would be breaking his trust and looking at Tony… he honestly isn't sure he could survive it again. Not and still be Tony anyway, he's already clinging by a thread.

In the ice, he can see Siberia. He didn't know what it means, but the word is bleak, cold and terrifying and fraught with more meaning than he can read. Or honestly than he wants to. Its shattered ice and time that goes on and on and pain. Freezing, burning pain. It's also the connecting point of the other change that looks like nothing he's ever seen before. There is a hum about him though, a vibrating hum that feels comfortable, feels familiar somehow and oh fucking hell.

That's an Infinity Stone.

How?!

He tries to stop his racing mind and listens to the story he's just told everyone else. He knows he's giving people a short, censored version. When he talks about the hospital Stephen can see remnants of severe injuries. Everywhere. Frostbite he guesses for him feet, hands, his face has a lot too. His eyes for fuck sake!

His chest is strange too, like it's glowing but the arc reactor was removed years ago. It's also too big. There is so much change its hard to find a place to start He can't even try to sense much because now his entire being is humming like the space stone. He also knows Tony can feel a connection to the other stones and people affected. He can see the small trailing link. Now other people might let that drop, but Tony won't, so he gets to explain the Infinity Stones, '_awesome' _. He's listening to Tony's story with a scowl too, if he thinks he can get away with this censored version with him, he will make him fall for an hour, dammit.

He wonders if Tony is seeing auras. He's seeing something and the way he describes it is definitely odd. He might be, or something else. The space stone is definitely at play. Not just handy for teleportation. Heck, he can do that and an infinity stone is several orders of magnitude _more_. As well as space, it can also transport to different dimensions. At a guess, he thinks that it's let Tony peel back a layer from the fabric of space. Instead of looking straight through, it's something close to this dimension, but there are somethings that human eyes, and even magic, are simply unable to see. How humans interact with the world around them and each other in a cosmic way. Although he hopes that Tony does not end up with the full capabilities of that space stone, Tony Stark accidentally creating singularities would be awkward. Tony Stark teleporting would be extremely annoying. But then when the Infitiy Stones interact with humans the results are highly unpredictable and not always what one would expect.

He and Carol are the same, and different, all at once, for example, Carol thrums with cosmic energy and Tony is beating with it like blood from his heart.

Carols energy pours out and Tony's...it is pouring in, almost pooling inside him. But he has no idea what that means, if it means anything. Tony seems to think his abilities are Extremis based... And they might be, but they're likely being powered by the energy of the space stone. He's definitely using at least one ability that is the work of the Infinity Stone.

He considers how to explain this to Tony, but generally he is in the dark too. He'll have to get Wong doing research. No one mentioned people being altered by the stones yet the mind stone and the space stone have both altered humans now. 2 a peice. The mind stone even altered a person to have superspeed which was just odd and throws out practically all rules on working this out. The addition of vibranium could be interesting to, Stark's element being close to vibranium could be bringing it into play, although he has no idea where he got so much Vibranium from, it's extremely rare on earth. Being a sonoluminescent, near indestructible metal that absorbs kinetic energy and it's in his blood and body. Yeah, that isn't going to cause problems. He sighs internally again.

He decides to put a pin in it for now, Tony has some idea of his abilities for now, they can monitor for potential changes in himself.

For now, he wants to know what put his friend in this position, because Tony _liked_ being **human**.

Sure he ran with super humans, altered people, gods, and everything in between, but he knew Tony didn't go about wanting powers. He liked aging and he could see that he was definitely younger now.

Even technopathy which is quite fitting he must admit.

Definitely not interdimensional vision.

He was baseline human in his suits and didn't aspire to anything other than building and creating for those he cared about.

Someone forced his hand, and he **will** have their name.

"Tony?"

He asks and out a lot behind it. From Tony's sigh, he knows that he isn't impressed with the current amount of information.

"Fine, fine, I probably should show you so anyway as it is Avengers related. You all know about the Civil War there is one fight I have kept.. Hidden. The Winter Soldiers didn't put me in a coma."

Stephen jumps a bit as the wall behind him turns into a screen. That Tony puts tech everywhere is a fundamental truth, especially at the compound. It only then occurs to him the level of control Tony has now of the building with just a thought.

"I can't watch this again either and I can't put my brain into the Internet."

Stephen is almost worried about seeing the video as he sees Carol and Rhodey pale. It takes a lot to make military guys like them pale. Rhodey turns his headphones on and he swears he sees a flash of gold in Tony's eyes before his right eye glazes over and he's sure now that Tony can't hear or see them, his aura ripples with information and yeah, that is incredibly strange.

"This video is pretty heavy, I'll understand if anyone wants to duck out? I can give you all a run down if you like?"

Everyone shakes their head to Carol's offer, turning to face the TV.

"OK FRIDAY, play the video."

The video starts with Tony approaching Rogers and Barnes which makes Stephen clench his shaking hands and bite back a snarl. Typical. He knew that stuck up bastard would be involved somehow.

Tony or FRIDAY must have put this video together as its a composite of multiple cameras streamed together to create an almost seamless shot as they move through the base. Confusion filters through the room when the 5 Winter Soldiers are already dead, because that was the party line, even though Tony said that the Winter Soldiers didn't put him in a coma, seeing them all dead was a shock. Everyone was told that Tony went to help Rogers and bring him in, but 5 Winter Soldiers got in the way. It irks him that Tony is still protecting Roger's. Even now.

'_Zemo looks like a slimy jerk.. Pretentious too with his talk of empires crumbling from within_'. He is considering more insults when he sees the date on the tape. He and Hope share a look.

The others don't know the importance of that date. All he can think is after everything Tony has been through. This is just too much, with barely a single break. Watching your parents die, with the person who murdered them next to the person you consider a friend? Yet betrayed you after, in Stephen's mind at least, bullying you for so long? No one deserves that.

Tony will deny the bullying till the cows come home. This however is a hill he will _happily_ die on. After Ultron Tony had no one, Rhodey was away and he and Pepper had split for good, things were awkward between them, it took a while for them to get back to bring friends, and in his infinite wisdom he gave Happy to Pepper. Leaving him with people who were exceedingly viscous to him, yet still used him.

He and Wong ranted about it every time Tony left the sanctum. When he arrived they just tried to give him a nice atmosphere. Make him feel fucking wanted and noticed whilst he was wasting away, working himself to death while people in his house attacked him and made him feel like he deserved it. He had gotten a lot closer to Tony that he'd have ever expected then. He also wasn't overly impressed when he was put into the role of the nice person. He was not exactly good at it.

He shook his head, he was being maudlin. Thankfully the video was nearly over now. He had never liked Tony's parents, but even he didn't want to watch them be murdered. From the faces around him, neither had they. The ground his teeth to stop him saying that Howard's death wasn't much of a loss anyway. That would create more questions than Tony would want.

He knows the man hates it, but he never does anything to dispel the idea that because he was rich he got everything he wanted as a child. People forget that rich people are still people. They can still be good or bad. If anything they are much more efficient at never getting caught. School teacher reports a child for a bruise? Some money to social services and they'll file 'not enough evidence' and the teacher loses her job and struggles to find work again. Other teachers are effectively warned off. The only reason Tony had told him was because of a copious amount of drugs and alcohol in their early 20s and after they'd both pretended nothing had been said the next day.

He can't help but be slightly annoyed when Tony hits Rogers open handed. He also wonders how long he was playing at Tony's friend whilst hiding the knowledge that he knew Tony's parents didn't die in a car crash, something that had affected Tony deeply, considering he thought a drunkard Howard killed his mother with recklessness. He was drowning in rage towards a man he hated, yet Tony wouldn't tell anyone, at least not sober. That he still looked up to Howard sometimes. Stephen really did not understand why.

No matter what that man did to him it's like he beat respect and admiration into him and somehow taught Tony he deserved this pain. He spent years hating Howard and trying to be him at the same time. Most of his stints in rehab and crashes after has something to do with Howard.. Or Stane. Stephen had never liked him. Tony had waved it off as Stephen didn't like anyone. Which wasn't exactly not true.

Stephen is sure that Tony still hates Howard, even now, but this might have robbed him of his rage. Stephen had tried but he knew it would take someone really special to get it through to Tony, that he didn't deserve what Howard did. Fuck, knowing Tony, he probably thinks he deserved this clusterfuck he's watching now. Probably thinks in some backwards fashion he deserves it for trying to kill Barnes whilst hating him. Tony hoards guilts like no one he's ever seen. For a man who outwardly doesn't seem tocare, he cared far, far too much to the detriment of his own health even.

Even though he is sure Tony could have actually killed Barnes 4 or 5 times already. Everyone underestimates the strength of his suits, they just see 1 suit and don't seem to realise Tony is constantly changing and improving. He's hitting walls instead of Barnes head. Although he couldn't help the smile when he blasted the arm off. If only it was Roger's instead. He knows Barnes has been through living hell. They all do, Tony included files of all of the rogues, with a special note not to read Barnes after dinner.

But Stephen is a selfish man.

All he sees is two enhanced super soldiers beating on his friend lost in grief. Rogers doesn't even seem to be trying to de-escalate the fight.

Luke is quietly narrating the fight for Matt, both of their faces grim. Someone makes a strangled noise when Tony is on the ground. There is no way to describe it other than vicious and even though Tony is right there, he can see that more than a few of them thought that the shield would come down in his neck. It carried on playing after the soldiers left. Just long enough to show that the suit is dead, that Tony's injuries making moving the thing actually impossible. No wonder he got Frostbite. After a few minutes it cut off and a few people breathed in relief. Obviously scared it would okay the entire time.

Tony came back to them with a gold flash as soon as it stopped, he wondered if FRIDAY can speak to him in his mind now, what would that even feel like?

"So, questions."

"Tony, how long where you left there?"

He's shaking his head at Hope the second she starts and Stephen is pretty sure this is the first question he always gets and that he will not answer it. Probably out of some ill conceived, ridiculous presumption of protecting them or not burdening them with such knowledge so instead he carries the weight himself. Tony Stark is almost frightening intelligent, but damn he is so fucking stupid sometimes.

"Long enough. Anything else?"

"Is there anything you'd like us to do?"

He asked, focusing on Tony who startles at the idea. Which apparently had been the last straw for the cloak. Which promptly shot of his back and fired itself at Tony. Causing him to roll his eyes, in the sanctum, Tony and the Cloak, or Levi as Tony calls it, and apparently it prefers, are always thick as thieves.. Stephen isn't sure how, but Tony can talk to it, Stephen can just about understand a few things. Tony however doesn't understand how he and Wong can't understand it, but Tony regularly had conversations with bots that communicate in beeps and whirs yet didn't use morse code for some reason. Levi was positively chatty in comparison.

However outside of the sanctum it had always kept to his back, playing the slightly strange cloak. Now it was practically smothering Tony with hugs and everyone was baffled.

Trust it to be a cloak that broke the dark edge the meeting had taken.

"Are.. Are you doing that?"

Danny gestured towards Tony who was now being held a foot off of the ground, only one arm visible which was gently patting the cloak.

"No, that is the Cloak of Levitation. Tony calls it Levi. It has a mind of its own and it's quite fond of Tony because somehow Tony can talk to it. It's my cloak and I'm pretty sure it actually prefers Tony some days. When he didn't visit for a while, it decided it was my fault and I've been getting the silent treatment from my cloak for 7 weeks. "

At the mention of its name, the collar of the cloak turned to Danny and gave a little wave before doing the same with the others. Everyone waved back, much to his amusement.

"Everytime I think we be hit peak weird, something extra weird happens."

Rhodey just puts his head on the table, despairing at the utter insanity his life had become whilst Tony had convinced Levi into a more comfortable position and was now reclining in a hammock about 4 feet off the floor.

" So, this is Levi everyone. Stephy's better half."

The cloak ripples in amusement and everyone introduced themselves to Levi.

"How come you've been hanging around here for 6 weeks now and no one noticed you were wearing sentient outerwear? "

"I told you Jess, I was getting the silent treatment. He was basically acting like a.. Well. Like a cloak."

"Okay. I think that's enough weird for today, I say we go and watch a movie. I know it's not movie night, but I think Tony will join us now?"

"Of course I will Luke, the only reason I was holding off was because it would be a bit weird to wear sunglasses in the dark watching a movie. Plus if it's dark enough, even my best wrap around glasses you can see some blue out of. I'd have to wear an eye patch like Fury... Ew."

Tony shrugged from his hammock.

" Yeah, I can see that, but now you have no choice! "

" Wild cloaks couldn't drag me away Jess. "

" Oh, I'm sitting by Tony, he forgot to mention one of his abilities, he can regulate his body temperature, he's like a human hot water bottle."

Jess and Hope instantly decided they would find a formation the 3 of them could sit around Tony, the cloak informed him that it too would be sitting with him.

" Huh, who knew all I had to do to be popular with the ladies and a magnificent cloak was become a human hot water bottle."

Tony joked huge smile on his face which had everyone laughing, they needed a laugh to dispel the residual sadness brought on by the video. They made their way to the theatre room. Stephen happy that Tony hadn't felt the need to replace his glasses or hide his hand. From Carol's smile and pointed looks, she was happy about the same thing. He however was quietly seething at the old Avengers and he doubted that would be going away anytime soon.

FRIDAY must have sent work ahead because the kids were all waiting in the room with Laura, Meg and Jim if he remembered correctly from the recent mission brief with their young girl, Cassie. Cassie was flanked by Tara and Lilah. He noticed that while Meg's eyes lingered on Tony hand and Jim on his eye neither seemed shocked or alarmed, which meant that Laura or someone had filled them in. He knew they hadn't been at the compound long, he was back up on all extraction plans incase time ran out or Ross moved to fast.

Luckily he hadn't been needed to extract Laura and the kids. Even though if Laura has trusted them, things might have gone smoother. Tony's warnings were ignored every step of the way, until they were literally hiding in a panic room under the house and 3 teams of men in black tactical gear were taking apart the house. He and Tony in the Ironman suit picked them up, Tony had gone straight back to bed after as he'd been utterly exhausted on Laura's insistence, she still didn't trust him, but she knew he'd come to rescue her whilst seriously hurt, he didn't find that out till much later. 2 hours later, however, when he'd found himself being yelled at by Rhodes, which was how and when he'd discovered about the coma. This was the first time since he'd properly seen Tony, all these weeks he'd been berating himself for not looking closer to his odd feelings. Hindsight is always 2020.

The middle deep sofa was occupied with Tony and the girls, he was basically laid across the three of them. Jess at his head, Hope had the middle and Carol had his legs. Which was likely why Rhodey was sulking about losing his cuddle partner. Those two had to start dating soon or he was going to lose two hundred dollars. He had September on the 'Oblivious Idiots in Love' pool. Tony had OIL striking in November.

He was comfortable in his favourite recliner, usually he had Levi, but he was currently acting as a blanket over Tony. Typical. A ginger cat appeared from the vents and jumped onto Tony. He and the cloak seemed to feel each other out for a few seconds, before deciding they could share Tony, the cloak settling over the cat..

He squinted his eyes that.. Wasn't a cat.

It couldn't be. He'd read about something that gave reading like that, but they were exceedingly rare and not on earth.. And wouldn't be cuddling Tony wait no. That last bit was plausible.

"Tony… when did you get a.. Cat?"

"Oh Goosey-loosey isn't mine, and she's not a cat."

Carol reached over to stroke Goose whilst smiling.

"She's a Flerken."

Jess looked critically at the cat now as did a few others who had obviously assumed the thing that looked like a cat, was a, well a cat.

"She's my adorable little murder floof is what she is."

Tony smiled fully on and Goose curled her paws possessively around his metal hand.

Tony was cuddling a Flerken. Huh. He's not even that surprised really, maybe the Flerkens ability to store pocket dimensions attracted her to people affected by the space stone which had the ability to traverse dimensions? Similar vibrations possibly.

"What is a Flerken?"

Danny asked, causing Stephen to full on grin. Catching the eyes of Carol and Tony who rolled their eyes. Which he took as permission.

"They are like space cats….Their bodies also hold pocket realities, bubbles of space and time that exist in other worlds... They also possess _many_ tentacles that can extend from their mouths."

Danny was okay for the first part but now he had everyone's attention. Danny looked a little green around the gills.

"Tentacles?"

"Oh yeah, Goose saved Fury once by taking out and eating several people."

"Well I won't hold that against you Goosey-Loosey."

"She's also why he has the eye patch."

Tony's face cracked into a huge smile, Stephen too. Neither of them were best pleased with the angry pirate.

"Oh that is fantastic. You are the best Flerken in existence."

"So, um.. The cat can sprout tentacles and effortlessly eat like 5 people? People sized people."

"Yu-P!" Tony was a little too gleeful popping the P, but this was amusing.

"So Tony, before the Movie starts, what does Goose look like to you?"

Carol jumped in, which he had to admit, he was curious about it too.

"Hmm, oh she's awesome. Stephy did you say pocket realities?"

"Yes."

"Huh, I wonder if I can see them? Do you have something to do with mirrors?"

Stephen blinked a few times, a bit surprised his theory of Tony peeling back to see different dimensions and the in between spaces.

"Yes actually, does Goose have that to?"

"Oh no, no mirrors, but there is this swirling pretty thing, looks a bit like the milky-way but more colourful with red purples and pinks and black stars instead of white. Her colours are different from a humans, some of them are more like a spectrum, white and then bursting into colours and there is like a static one that occasionally looks like glitter. It's taking me longer to put words to the colours, I don't think I can even name some of them, but she's loyal, very loyal. At first all I saw was friendly. I don't know, I think she can control it and used it to find me and say hi… "

Pretty much everyone has stopped what they were doing at this point, popcorn half poured, snacks dropped movies stopped being searched through to just stare open mouthed at an oblivious Tony who's been talking to Goose the entire time. Carol however has a huge smile on her face.

"That's amazing! I knew she was intelligent, but that is so brilliant."

Everyone grinned and went back to sorting out snacks whilst Danny is staring between the cat and his friends.

"Are we seriously not talking about how Hentai cat can eat half of us in one bite?"

"Nope."

Jess shoots him a toothy grin, now petting Goose along with Hope, Carol, Tony… oh and Levi too. Rhodey seems to be pouting again.

"Tooooony, my hands are cold."

Tony smiles up at Carol who squeals as Stephen assumes Tony raises his temperature. Goose nestles into the warmth of his chest whilst the girls hum in amusement. Meg and Jim are a little overwhelmed but Hope is doing her best to keep them calm and feel included. The kids have made a blanket nest on the floor in front of the chairs and . When snacks are passed out, Tony becomes a snack holder for the girls and the film starts.

Stephen isn't sure when his life went crazy but he seems to be watching a film called Stonehenge Apocalypse and it's the least weird thing to happen today.


	8. Chapter 8 - TOTT

**Tony POV**

_**12th September **_

Tony slips on the black suit jacket, the red and gold tie left by Peter makes him grin. Today he really does feel like he needs his armour. The kids are being dropped off by Laura, Meg tagging along to see Cassie off to her new school. Mondays usually suck but today has been a _long_ time coming, so yeah he's nervous, but also giddy like a 14 year old.

He hears the door to his apartment open and close, signifying Laura's return. He finished up quickly, straightening the red and gold tie, and pulling out a pair of the most secure sunglasses with mirrored red lenses that he owned. Today he can't risk a slip up, but he actually does have FRIDAY installed on a back up pair in his pocket, so if someone comments, he can show them that. Rhodey pointed out he was bordering on paranoia, he pointed out that he was already a superhero, so people are predisposed to go straight to the weird explanation around him.

He tapped the red disk on his hand and at a fast glance in the mirrors, he figures he looks how people expect him too, _mostly_. The minimal scarring that was not covered by clothes, is light enough to not be noticeable he admits, even if his eyes zero in on them without fail. There is a chance some eagle eyed camera guy might focus on the slight scarring on his face, but it is mostly on his left side, partially covered by his sunglasses just a smattering on his cheek left visible. He tried covering it up, but it felt awful, the scar tissue annoyingly sensitive. The rest was around his ears and neck that people rarely seemed to spot. Plus, he has a dangerous job, scars are pretty expected. Apart from that, he's not far from his _old self_.

The only real difference there is the black on black suit, and his sunglasses have changed style. His face is done up to make him look closer to his age, not too close, because why not. He will probably get some reports of botox or something, but watching Hollywood scramble for his secrets of youth would be amusing. His hair is also styled but he didn't bother trying to dye the white back in again, it just grows out too fast. Deciding that's as good as he is going to get, he leaves the bedroom to join Laura.

Apparently the kids had taken over her wardrobe too, with her black suit, ice blue blouse and her hair done up in some kind of complicated up-do that he can't make heads nor tails off. Which is saying something actually, as Lilah and Tara have him learning some new complicated hair thingy every week. _Bobby pins get everywhere. _It's utter madness, but actually very fun. His first attempts were rather dire, so he sneakily got a hairdresser to teach him some stuff and since then, YouTube all the way. But Laura's hair makes everything he's done so far look like sloppy ponytails. _Typical_. Laura looks dressed to eat some political sharks so there is that, he's still not sure if he regrets introducing her to Pepper, but he can definitely see the red heads influences too.

"I think the two of us look like we are going to war?"

"Aren't we?"

"Oh yes, Ross has been far to comfortable and he thinks we are just playing catch up."

"Well, Laura Morgan, shall we be off?"

Laura grins, eyes alive with humour, the divorce hadn't gone through yet, but Matt got her and the kids surnames changed already.

"I think so, Dr Stark."

She hooked her arm in his. Scooping up her bag before stopping Tony, eyebrows raised in question.

"FRIDAY dear? Can you take a picture, I think the kids would like to see the fruits of their labour."

"Oh and tell the kids not to put it on twitter until _after_ we finish up at DC."

It was handy that the Accords Council was in America this month. It had been cycling around member countries and he'd thought they'd be jetting off to a different country rather than just to DC. He was almost disappointed how it had worked out, but there were some nice places they could go for food after.

"Oh we're taking the flashier quinjet today."

"Hmm, I think the PA business is definitely going to be fun."

"When exactly did I hire you as my PA again? I feel this is something I would remember."

"Don't worry dear. Your PA handled it. Negotiating salary for myself was an interesting task however."

Laura grinned at him as they boarded the quinjet, it was smaller than usual, but then this isn't designed to fly the team about. Its smaller, sleeker, and a heck of a lot faster too. The inside is outfitted for comfort and is meant to make you feel like your flying in style, very handy for business, Rhodey had been using it often even though he'd said making a more comfortable quinjet was a waste of time. Tony had just planned on making a smaller one, better outfitted. He'd gotten a little carried away.

"Oh I like this one. This is definitely my new favourite."

Laura said whilst sitting in the Co pilot seat. Running her hands over the incredibly comfortable leather seats. Tony dropped down next to her, starting everything up without touching anything.

"Fry, Flight path approved? Everything kosher?"

"All set to go Boss."

Laura grinned. It turned out that she was almost as bad as the kids when it came to him using his tech abilities, she always wanted to see him do '_more_'. She was a perfect mix of Pepper and Rhodey, organised to a degree he literally couldn't conceive of… yet gleefully encouraging him to wreck people.

She wasn't the mother who barely had any adult company stuck on a farm anymore. She is the scarily competent, heavily armed, _yet you can't see a weapon on her_, thanks to him, neither will metal detectors. Sue him, he's been kidnapped enough. Few people will expect the slim, sharply dressed PA to be an Ex-agent, armed to the teeth and frankly itching to get in the field again whilst wearing killer Louboutin heels, a gift courtesy of Pepper which left he and Laura at the same height. Something he suspected Pepper had planned. Smirking, he realised that the sum cost of her outfit was probably more than the farm. Oh if Clint saw anything from today he was going to explode. He sent the picture of them to Shuri too, she wasn't at today's Accords council but T'Challa was. Maybe he'd say hi to the poor kitty.

Takeoff was as smooth as ever, sure, he could have FRIDAY fly them, but he hadn't flown in ages and this was fun. She was ready to catch him however, should his abilities or concentration Glitch for whatever reason. It was a nice stretch, with a safety net. He radioed in and followed the set flight path, behaving was always important when you're about to cause a scene. No one but a few select players knew he was coming today, he didn't want to give anyone a chance to run defensive maneuvers. Everheart knew he was on his way, and she had advanced notes so her segment would be put leagues before anyone else.

"Christine was happy to get the packet I sent, do you think her article will be scathing against you again?"

"Na, she just knows what she is doing. If she was 100% about everything I did. She'd lose credibility, but a person who slates me saying something good? Now that gets traction."

"Hmm, yes, I did like her I stand with Ironman segment after the news of your coma broke. I think she planning on bringing it up again."

"Oh goody, I do like a catchy hashtag."

He slipped out his phone and poked around on twitter. They were almost there so he figured now was fine.

youknowwhoiam - Did anyone miss me?

He shot Laura a grin as they disembarked, a crowd had gathered as he'd 'parked' the quinjet a few feet from the door. When they were both free, he flew it up and passed control over to FRIDAY to put it somewhere safe. He spun on his heel to face the group of shocked reporters. They had been quite subdued until they saw the jet, obviously expecting a humdrum day of political intrigue. So reading boring things and nit picking tiny details for hours. Luckily the amendments scheduled today had already been finalised so he didn't feel bad about crashing something important. He wouldn't want to set that precedent and have a boring person crash an important amendment like the one he had tabled for powered children and inclusions of mutants.

"Oh can you schedule a meeting for me with Xavier soon, I'll go to him whenever I'm free, telling him it's about the Accords. I've wanted to meet him for a while."

He whispered under his breath before taking a few steps forward towards the surge of reporters who just realised Tony Stark had dropped in their laps. Christine had already snapped a few pictures, miles ahead of the pack, she waited for her sound bite and then shot inside.

"Hello my lovelies, Did you miss me!"

He gave them his best press smile, just long enough for Christine before he spun on his heal again and stalked inside, casually waving over his shoulder and ignoring the asked questions.

"Trust me, your questions will be much better after I've been inside. Wouldn't want to waste them now would we?"

Laura's eyes are dancing with laughter as she holds the door open for them. She knew he wasn't going to hang around after, this was already testing his abilities, he barely looked at the press for a few seconds, yet he had paled a little already. Laura pulled his attention back to her after the disorienting press hoard.

"I didn't realise how fun this could be."

Tony shot her another grin, his colour returning as they made their way to the chamber, he was already slipping inside their systems. Not having to use your hands and just letting part of your mind slip through was much easier at getting past any defenses.

"Oh the press can be a nightmare, but they can also be a lot of fun to play with."

They strode up to the door and a man rushed forward to stop them. Holy crap this kid had _energy_. His colours practically vibrated at him but didn't overwhelm him thankfully. Peter apparently was good practice for over eager teens. He practically screamed earnest and was a total puppy that Tony wanted to kidnap from politics. Rhodey, however, would have a go at him if he brought another stray home.

"I'm sorry the Vienna Accords are in sessions today an… Oh, You… You're _Tony Stark_."

Tony grinned as the young kid went up a few octaves, he flushed and yup, this was a definite fanboy.

"That's me, and I think I have a standing invitation?

"Oh yes sir, of course, I haven't seen you make it to one of these before, I thought I'd never get a chance!"

"I've been a touch under the weather. But no matter, I'm all shiny and happy to be back at work. What's your name?"

"Uh, I'm Jordan Hale, it's great to have you back Mr Stark. King T'Challa has been talking you up, I can't believe how much you are doing for prosthetics. The way he explained it and when I looked it up, I might be able to get my insurance to finally give me an upgrade. My current one is for 14 to 16 year olds, I'm 19 but they keep saying 'it's perfectly acceptable'. "

Tony frowned, that definitely was not_ perfectly acceptable_, this kid had a good job, he cared about his job too by the looks of it and he seemed nice too. There aren't many nice people in politics. Suddenly he's happy Laura is here instead of Pep. Peps lovely, but she got annoyed at his distractions, Laura however looked like she wanted to bundle him up and take him home. He fished out one of his cards.

"Ever been to New York?"

"Ah, yes Sir. I actually live there when I'm not jetting around chasing the Accords."

He said, grinning which made him think he didn't even mind a chaotic work schedule and dealing with cranky politicians from all over.

"Well, here's my card, give us a call next time you're in New York and we'll get you squared away. Dealing with grouchy politicians is pain enough. No need to add actual pain to it."

He smiled at the kid who tentatively took the card, eyes wide with shock.

" I'll be expecting to hear from you Mr Jordan Hale, so none of this '_I don't deserve it'_, because trust me, I'm Ironman and I'll just turn up on your doorstep. "

He shot him another grin before heading towards the doors, Laura patted the kid on the shoulder, who was still in shock. It made him feel good to do something nice before heading in, gave him a little boost.

"He will you know."

Laura winked at the kid who professed his thanks about 50 times as they waved and entered the room. Ah good no one was up on the speaker's podium. That made things easier.

"That was nice of you."

"He seems like a good kid, young to be getting in on all this, so obviously smart. He actually seems enthused about working on the Accords, we need more young people in it, even if they're slowly working their way up. Old angry people stuck in their ways infest politics.. It's like getting blood from a stone to change things. It's like they're allergic to change, even monumentally good change for everyone. It's maddening. "

Laura grinned at him as they ignored everyone and walked straight up to the podium. T'Challa was one of the many shocked faces, his mouth open in shock and it made Tony grin, so he gave him a thumbs up.

"I think you just like helping people."

"Shush now, it's bad for my image as an evil rich boy who only thinks of himself."

Laura just rolled her eyes as he took the podium, standing a step behind him, head held high as she set up the tablet in front of her. The holoscreen popping up and she manipulated it like a pro who'd been using them for years. Terrifyingly competent that woman. With that set up, it was easy for him to grab the information he needed, and there was a lot. He'd had to fiddle with the buildings WiFi speed or it would take ages to download the information to everyone Stark Pads, even with him forcing it. He did a quick check to ensure everyone had brought them and was not surprised that only a few hadn't. He'd set it up a few weeks ago that each representative got a free one for working on the Accords. In the interest of everything moving smoothly of course. Not because accessing his own tech was easy as pie.

"Hello everyone, the rumors of my demise, retirement or whatever the new one of the week is, have been wildly exaggerated. I hope I haven't missed too much?"

More than a few people cheered, the younger ones, the older ones looked unimpressed with his antics, as usual. He swallowed thickly, trying to look at neutral points in the room as he started getting readings from many people at once, he'd not had much chance to see such a variety of people, and at least two people he'd barely glanced at nearly had him upchucking on his shoes already.

"Unfortunately, I am not here to bring glad tidings. I'm here to present to you multiple violations for someone under the Accords as they're regarding Inhuman, Enhanced Humans, Mutants, And pretty much everyone that is protected by the Vienna Accords as they stand. Hopefully in the future we can give more protections to ensure such a travesty does not happen again.

As you'll see, on your tablets a lot of information is being made available to you. This is also being sent to other authorities as the violations are also against humans. Civilians who did not sign up to protect the world and take on the problems that face such a trying job. "

" Ah, Mr Stark. Are you sure this is the right time for such announcements? This session is _televised_. Shouldn't this information be sent to interested_ parties only_!?"

The second part was almost hissed, not surprising Jackson was Ross's aid. Hilariously he was one of the few who had not brought his Stark Pad. Ross probably didn't trust it. He didn't seem to realise that people were staring at him. Everett Ross was trying not to laugh over the coms which gave him something to focus on because he was never looking at Jackson again. He'd seen people's colours move in many different ways, he'd not seen someone ooze before. The man was pure slime and it made his skin itch. He checked on the link just because he needed a second to not recover, flashing Jackson his best press smile.

Checking in on the younger Ross and his team took a fraction of a second, they were in place around good ol' Thunderbolts hotel room. It was a shame, he'd hoped to have him arrested here, but he had press '_accidentally_' sent to the hotel under sightings of Tony Stark, so that would do. Plus, he wasn't sure he wanted to make himself look at him. If Jackson made him feel like this, he didn't want to know what Ross would be like and he had a long ass speech to cover.

Getting everything recorded was crucial so the slippery fucker wouldn't be able to slime his way out again, like he had the last 3 attempts Rhodey and Everett had made. They'd made the mistake of not turning it into a press circus out of professionalism. However, this was something Tony excelled in, slimey people had less of their arsenal surrounded by the press, they were used to the shadows. Whereas Tony had grown up in front of the press, practically constantly in the limelight. Sometimes, the press circus could be handy, they were a pack of starving wolves and Tony was about to dangle a nice rump steak in front of their faces and then toss it at Ross.

"Mr Jackson, this is the perfect time. Accountability is for _everyone_ when it comes to the Accords, not just those of us no longer classed as baseline human. "

He raised an eyebrow to the man whilst looking over his shoulder, it hadn't been long since he'd been formally included under the Accords and not from his signing. They'd recently expanded the criteria to include people of '_unusual_ _levels of intelligence_', so even without the suit, he was included now. It was an obvious move to try and gain more control over him. He didn't have to bring it up, he probably could have got his way out of it. However they expected him to try and slip free so he figured, why not lean into it. With the added benefit of showing solidarity to those perceived as less human for things not under their control. Sure it might lose him sway in some areas, people would call him doubly compromised, being an Avenger and an Enhanced Human. Even if they didn't know how enhanced. The press reacted as he'd planned. The room had also gotten quiet enough for a pin to drop.

"Now, where was I. Yes, the individual in question, as I'm sure you and several key people in law enforcement are now seeing has been quite the naughty boy. He has also evaded 6 attempts to be taken into custody and has tried illegal means to remove the information in front of you from various sources private and public. "

" Why has this not been brought to attention before.. This is a lot… "

"Yes it is a lot Mr Davenport, I have been collecting information on this individual for a number of years and have tried many times to bring him down. The information was dispirite and various law enforcement simply agencies didn't know too communicate with each other, we'll go with that excuse for why he wasn't already behind bars, shall we? Of course, I am happy to do my duty under the Accords to bring this to you as a signed member. Even though I am still technically signed off on medical leave, I thought this too important to wait much longer. "

Ah, the press love that bit. As do quite a few of the countries signed up. American superheroes had gotten a bad rap the last few years, but he'd been working to change that. Mostly behind the scenes, but before Siberia, he'd visited many of these countries to personally help or his repartition teams went in, as Steve didn't want to use the Ex-Shield personnel for much else.

Also, since Carol took over as head, as per his recommendations, they'd been doing more than defeating super villains and end of the world jazz. They were actually working weekly instead of doing jack all between attacks. They'd even helped with wildfires in several countries, only entering after invitation and working with local LEOs.

Plus, people really got a kick out of the American, rich, pampered, white boy working whilst sick. Even if it was from home and not in the suit.

"Now, I'll inform everyone. These charges are not for the faint of heart. So you may wish to mute?

"I have petabytes of data, videos, written, everything required and I will be honest. If this is swept away and ignored, again, as this information is legally my own. I will release it onto the Internet."

"We don't appreciate threats Dr Stark."

"Dr Malden, I don't not wish to threaten your lovely self or anyone here. But when you have watched the videos you will understand my fervour. Plus precedent was set after the fall of SHIELD was it not? I do not believe that an Amendment to that section regarding releasing of information has been tabled yet. "

" I thought you were against the data dump Dr Stark"

"I was, and still am Mr Davenport. It was _reckless_, too fast and the innocent were hurt. I assure you, this will not be a reckless act. It will not be an ill conceived idea born of desperation. You could call it an act of civil disobedience that will _only_ harm those at fault. The versions I release will completely protect those who have been hurt except the ones who have contacted me and have signed permission for me to release files with their likeness. "

He gave a sharp grin, several people were starting to look very uncomfortable.

" Oh, and I also have information pertinent to forgein countries as they have been, lets say, 'quite involved' with this individuals little off the books operations. Oh, and yes people of America, this does include a large dose of tax fraud, misuse of your hard earned tax dollars and bribery. "

Now, in general Americans would hate everything on his list, but a lot of it would feel… surreal. Too far removed from their day to day life. But tax fraud? Now that will get people in America angry, and quickly.

"The information I have pertains to so many crimes against humanity that putting this file together over the years has not been pleasant. It is frankly, chilling.

"Human rights violations are never pretty, even if we are talking about people who are seen as less than human by some. Many do include humans who because of this man have been forced into enhancements, mutations, changes to their body against their will. Bodily autonomy seems a fleeting idea, as long as he can create and control his own little private army of super humans, he doesn't care who suffers horrendously, human, mutant, enhanced, inhuman. Whether they are civilians or not, whether they were heavily misinformed volunteers or people literally screaming from cages. If any of his experiments escaped he perused then with a blinding degree of recklessness and endangerment of civilians that make the crimes against the rogues avengers look petty in comparison."

He'd promised Bruce long ago he wouldn't stay his name into anything about this, as much as he wanted to get revenge for his friend, he was a private person. Ross had been a busy man however and Bruce was just a name in a disturbingly long list.

"Human experimentation, reckless endangerment of minors, ethics were just not involved anywhere and aspects of this are straight up torture to those he kept. To those who escaped, their lives were systematically destroyed, reputations ruined, family's threatened, all to force his victims into an easier point of capture. This has spanned several years, in several countries and includes a frankly terrifying amount of property damage. This is coming from me, the man who cleaned up after the Avengers for years. Including New York. This individual has not spent a penny in reparation efforts and has often illegally shifted the blame.

"Much of the danming information I have come by has come from the man's own daughter, she has tried so many times over the years to stop this madness but all she got for it was her life ruined and nightmares. She is strong, fiery and tells me she's looking forward to finally being able to stand in court to decry her father for the monster he is.

"Most recently we come to his violations of creating a secret prison that breaks so many rules I'll be here for an hour listing them. He then illegally detained people, without adequate warrants, in the illegal prison and claimed to be doing it on behalf of yourselves. "

People were now muttering angrily and it was obvious who he was talking about. He'd kept eye contact with Jackson occasionally, as much as he could without feeling faint, watching the man pale more and more as he went on, he was worried that the man would pass out soon. Mostly he was speaking into the cameras though, with occasional, very brief pointed looks at people he knew were involved. He could already see arrest warrants piling up on his screen in multiple countries. It looked like people were practically rushing to finally take out the trash.

"I am of course talking about one Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross. Now, whilst I accept the fugitive status of certain individuals and Thaddeus drive to bring them in. Of course in that drive, he has subverted the Accords and the will of the original 117 countries, now a fantastic 139 with 2 more ready to join any day. To take what we want to be a shield, to protect civilians and heroes alike, to guard humans, superhuman, inhumans, enhanced humans, humans with unusual qualities such as very large intellects, which by the way, is quite the compliment. Thank you. Also included androids and artificial intelligence and those seeking personhood.

"That is what the Accords are, protection for all, to take our mistakes of the past, never forget them, never cover them up, never forget the lives lost, accountability, security. Not a subversion of these great ideals put on paper by the late King T'Chaka and taken up by his son. This shield won't become a noose as long as I'm breathing, from standing in front of you or from my hospital bed, I assure you, _I_ _will not give up._"

Tony took a breath and stepped back, Laura taking his place, much to peoples confusion. Thinking to himself, that was possibly the longest damned speech he'd ever made, but then he had written it with people around who wanted to add bits and suddenly he had an essay. At least it was suitably dramatic. He gripped the edge of the podium, what he hadn't considered when everyone had made it so damned long was how long he'd be staring at people like Jackson.

"I'm sure none of you will recognise me, except as Dr Stark's amazing new personal assistant of course."

That got her a few laughs from the press, she dealt with him so she must be a Saint.

"My soon to be ex husband is one of the fugitives that was illegally detained. That is not why I am standing here. I'm standing here because Ross sent multiple teams of _heavily_ armed, _highly_ trained men to my farm. A farm I lived on alone with three children, my youngest had not long turned one year old. The others are seven and thirteen years old. They don't understand what is happening, why a man sent tactical teams to raid our home.

"I don't even know anything, after my ex husband left to join this ill advised fight, that was where my information ended. Yet, my home was raided. I don't want to think what might have happened if Tony Stark, 37 hours after waking up from his coma, hadn't abandoned his hospital bed to rescue me. Don't worry, I immediately marched him back into it. "

Laura offered a wry smile to the press and they loved it, not many people were a natural with the press, but Laura was like a fish in water. He really was moderately terrified of her and Pepper spending more time with each other.

"after reading what he has done to innocent men, women and children in the past, I do not believe we would have fared well, especially waiving the Accords around as an all access pass. He didn't do this because I was refusing to cooperate with the authorities, I was doing everything I should. That wasn't enough, he wanted to _terrorise_ the families to scare '**them**' back. The kind of tactics I'm ashamed to think of happening in this country. Me and my children are human, the law failed to protect me, Ironman didn't. We are not the only family he has brought in from the cold. We stand with him as a real _protector_, not a _villain_ like Thaddeus Ross. "

The explosion of noise is perfect and Laura spins and put her head of Tony's shoulder, he hugged her. She hadn't intended to say so much, he knew, he'd seen her actual speech after all. But this, whilst emotionally taxing is better he thinks. He ignores the press, the flashing and the yelling and just hugs Laura for a few seconds. Upping his body temperature which gets a smile out of her, that she carefully hid in his shoulder.

"Thank you for taking the time today to listen to what we had to say. I'll leave you now to hopefully do what should have been done long ago. Whilst I might be gone, _I will be watching_."

With that he slowly looked across the room, certain people were standing to leave, others dumb struck, some nauseated just staring at their tablets. Many very annoyed he'd just dumped this in their laps and was buggering off, _ah well_. He hoped that this would be a wakeup call to them, not just for the Accords council but for people in general. It had become easy to hate the non humans, easy to hate on the superheroes, marching to General Ross's tune. This was a wake up call that humans could be just as terrifying, cruel, dangerous and see themselves as above the law and not need superpowers or enhancements to do it. That baseline humans, could use the law as they saw fit too. Could see themselves as above it.

He hid a grin as he saw the agenda change for the next meetings, Ross and personhood rights had been bumped to the top. _Finally_. He'd been rallying for Personhood for _weeks_ now, but Ross had been the wall he couldn't get past. Without that amendment Vision was stuck with his paperwork and it had started to annoy him. Ross had to go for many reasons, but he had to go because he wanted everything in the world for his sythnazoid son. Now he was just that much closer.

He monitored the arrest warrants coming in for Ross and his pals and was amused by the speed and efficiency everything was now clicking into place. No one wanted that data on the Internet, not even him really, but the data dump had left room for a lovely _threat_. He didn't want to dump it, even with permission, but if he was given no choice, he would. Bruce had never wanted his name dragged through the mud and although he'd had edited it to scrub him out, it would have come back to the Hulk somewhere. _Someone_ would make the connection. Now, things were moving however, he would give the man the option if he wanted to out himself, so to speak. He was possibly one of the most well known of Ross sins. It would also help the case in court, and the court of public opinion, which he needed to keep the pressure on. Without it, Ross could slime out again somehow.

Ignoring that for now, he offered Laura his arm, she smiled and took it after packing up all their stuff. More pictures of them were taken walking away without looking back as Mr Jackson was escorted away in cuffs later he had to admit that was one of his favourite shots, the red flash of Laura's heals, walking away with perfect grace and Jackson's face contorted in anger as the head of the tac team that illegally broken into her home and terrified her children. He might frame it for her.

T'Challa was waiting for them outside along with Jordan who looked flushed and extremely happy.

"That was amazing!"

The kid actually jumped, kind of awkwardly, but Tony reached out and steadied him. T'Challa was looking highly amused, Tony wasn't sure if Jordan was going to pass out. Heck he wasn't sure that he was going to pass out, his vision what whitening around the edges and peoples colours has dulled, probably from the overload inside. He was still standing however and that was a win, he forced it back and stubbornly stayed to chat with the king and kid.

"I was wondering, would you ah, sign this for me?"

Laura took what he was offering and placed it next to Tony so he could pick it up, thankfully the kid didn't comment on that. He blinked a few times, he hasn't seen this in, well _years._

"This. This is my first dissertation on Artificial Intelligence."

T'Challa and Laura leaned over, obviously interested whilst Tony was actually touched. This kid kept it with him incase he turned up? He pulled out his pen immediately and decided to write this kid a note, he looked him up whilst Laura had been talking about how strange it was that he went to college so young based on the date of his dissertation. Probably thinking of Cooper. Laura was still sporting her unamused 'mom face' when Jordan said he went to college early too. He'd also ended up with robotics and artificial intelligence, he was strongly for personhood and a total Vision fanboy. When he turned up to discuss his prosthesis he'd decided to convince Vision to '_accidentally_' be there.

"How old were you when you completed this Dr Stark?"

T'Challa has leaned over, looking at the dates, his eyebrows had jumped up a little, probably realising how long Tony had been nigh on obsessed with AIs.

"I finished this up at 17 because I was doing a few others, but the bot and AI mentioned, I built when I was 16. He's my '_first born_' and he is still a little menace in my workshop."

He grinned and did the '_dad thing_' of showing them a picture of Dum-E, welding a fire extinguisher, whilst himself, Peter and Harley were utterly doused in foam, Tara cackling safely from behind Dum-E. The kid squealed again, T'Challa was still shocked which was amusing to him.

"Here you go kid, I still expect to hear from you, and bring your dissertation, it sounds interesting."

That time he nearly did swoon before having to get back to work.

"Were you trying to make him pass out?"

"What, Laura no, I actually looked him up and he went to MIT, I saw him under some professor's I recognised. The kid started at 16 too which is impressive."

"When did you start?"

"Huh? Oh, I was 14, hey T'Challa, want to join us for lunch?"

Laura looked disapproving of a 14 year old going to college, which Tony found hilarious and made a point to not to tell her stories from his youth that included many older boys getting him plastered with spiked drinks, he'd just kind of thought that was what alcohol _did_. The pre-Rhodey days were not fun so fun looking back. Better than home but not exactly good either. Rhodey and Carol had made everything much better, even though he wasn't sure how they dealt with him at 14 because he was an **_ass_****. **

"I'd love to join you two, I don't know how we're going to get out though, it's a circus out there now."

"Oh don't worry. I knew it would be and I have zero intention of holding an impromptu press conference. My CEO and PA would kill me."

He grinned at Laura who rolled her eyes at his antics and headed off to the stairwell to the roof. Laura followed, she'd not been around him long, but she'd been around enough to just go with it when he walked with purpose. Plus it was usually fun, at least that was her excuse to Pepper. After a few flights of stairs nearing the roof, he pulled it his phone so he could tell Laura about Twitter without T'Challa wondering how he knew.

"Hey Agent Mom, you're trending on twitter!"

"What? Me? Why me?! You're the one meant to be trending!"

"Well I am, but you are too, I think you've resurrected that I stand with Ironman tag before Everheart, there are lots about you too."

The two of them pulled out their phones to check making Tony chuckle as he strode out onto the roof. T'Challa was being followed discreetly by 4 of the Dora Milaje that Tony waved too, even the ones very well hidden by the shadows. The look of shock and confusion on their faces was worth it. When your brain is in the cctv and you can see very well in darkness, he's quite hard to sneak up on. Plus, Wakandan wore tech even more than American, he could feel them. It was potentially of outing himself to T'Challa, or at least a hint, if he thought about it, but things got excused around him easily for being the eccentric genius all the time.

Laura was looking at her phone in shock, pictures of her were being shared by thousands and thousands of people and it was snowballing from there. He could see a smile on her face so she was obviously enjoying her newfound fame.

"Damn, I look good in this suit."

T'Challa was also sharing pictures of the two of them, including himself in the I stand with Ironman. He even added and I stand with Tony. Aww, he really was a Kitty and dammit now it was impossible to be angry at the man. His colours had nixed it pretty much from a glance across the room, damn the man was so _earnest_, he just wanted to make up for his mistakes and protect his people. Tony couldn't not get behind that. Hence abducting the king for dinner. Plus he was worried what might happen if he stopped moving before he could sit, standing and talking downstairs would not have gone well, he was slightly dizzy but powering through was actually working for him.

The quinjet was almost on top of them when he realised that they hadn't picked somewhere to go yet.

"Any requests for food? I know a few places in DC included this amazing Italian restaurant?"

The others nodded as the quinjet landed, T'Challa looked impressed which considering he came from Wakanda was quite the compliment. Shuri had shown him pictures of what they had available and he was frankly dying to get his hands on them. There was just enough space on board for the 7 of them, especially if Tony and Laura sat in the pilots seats again, T'Challa took one near them and the Dora took up standing positions instead of sitting around the small table. Tony let FRIDAY control the Quinjet too.

"Fry, my baby girl, can you get us a table at Carlluccio's? Something not too obvious, tell Zaz that I've made myself a storm again."

"Sure thing Boss, I'll head for the roof shall I? He should be amused at that."

Tony snorted and figured he was going to get himself a slap on the back of his head, but it was worth it because the food was amazing and he was really hungry. He couldn't eat too much in front of T'Challa, but if he doubled his order, he could eat in the jet on the way home.

"Is that your AI? Is she driving the jet?"

"Yup, FRIDAY is my wonderful girl. Say Hi to the king."

"Hi King T'Challa, and yes I'm the pilot of the jet. Occasionally Boss takes over but he flew here, so I get to fly home and he gets to be lazy."

"Sass, again, on my ship now. I'm sassed at all quarters."

"Well you did code me Boss."

T'Challa seemed amazed that FRIDAY was so smug. On the way to the restaurant he and Laura had fun laughing at the crazy that twitter turned everything into. 140 characters didn't just create brevity, it seemed to create insanity. Most people were being nice about him, it was a nice change. There were the obvious detractors but if 100% of people were being nice to him, he would be pretty sure that he'd died. T'Challa was chatting up a storm with FRIDAY who managed to draw the Dora into it as well.

"Miss FRIDAY, I can't help but be amazed by yourself, I've been interested in AIs for a while but you are nothing like what else I've seen."

"Why thank you T'Challa, Boss can we keep him, he's so polite!"

"You charming my AIs over there?"

T'Challa just shot him and grin and continued flirting with FRIDAY.

When they arrived at the restaurant he got complained at in Italian for always being followed by chaos. It was then that he noticed that Tony had brought a literal king to his restaurant. Tony was cackling that he'd stunned the man speechless. His daughters would never let him live it down.

T'Challa ate enough that he was starting to think his fighting skills from when they'd fought together before might be more than just being decked out in vibranium. That he might also be enhanced. Tony took this to mean he could eat enough to actually get full, Zazz found his increased appetite amusing but didn't comment beyond smiling at his empty plates. Probably just happy he was eating, his daughters were always of the opinion he didn't eat enough so Zazz heard about it enough.

As they were finishing dessert and Tony was actually starting to struggle, even he was feeling close to full, everyone, including the Dora looked happy and full of food when his phone went off. Oh great. He wanted to sleep, not be yelled at.

"Pep!"

"Tony. The plan wasn't for you to out yourself as not human!"

"It's fine Pep, I only noticed the tagged on amendments about intelligence last night. That didn't cause any fires at SI did it?"

"Well no we're up 7 points and its shows signs of increasing more."

"Pep. Are you calling to yell at me for good things? Because I just ate a lot of food, I'm sleepy and confused. Also T'Challa and Laura are laughing at me now."

He finished up the call with Pepper, she was still mad at him for potentially making himself vulnerable, but nothing bad was falling on SI so as far as he was concerned, no yelling was ruining his overeating happy haze.

He had ordered a ton of extra dessert to take home for the kids which was interesting to transport up to the roof, especially as T'Challa did the same for Shuri.

They dropped T'Challa and the Dora back off on the roof, creating another little media storm of Tony and T'Challa shaking hands, and Tony pulled him in for a hug. What? Playing with the press is fun! Bagheera also turned out to be a lot nicer when he wasn't running all over the planet hunting for his father's killer too.

The trip home was quiet, but a nice quiet, they were both exhausted and way to full they both nearly fell asleep. He didn't celebrate until he stepped into his apartment however, but as soon as he did, he couldn't help but smile. That he'd dealt with the press multiple times, annoying people and a high stress situation and he hadn't fried anything with his abilities or passed out from the colour overload. Things were still a little dim and he didn't feel on top form, but it was definitely a good sign.

For his first outing in public since Siberia, and since he got these abilities, the fact that he didn't do anything 'weird' was a serious plus. Laura went straight to pick up Nate and Tony just face planted the sofa after putting the goodies in the fridge. He decided to doze until people came home, he still felt a little weird. He alternately checked stuff online and enjoyed himself watching videos of Ross being arrested from different angles. Okay, maybe he looped that one, and oh look, how did it end up online? Not from anything traceable to him that's for sure.

Carol and Rhodey got in first, Carol carrying quite a large box.

"What's in the box Sparky?"

"Not a clue, it's for you."

"Oooh presents!"

Carol dropped the box on top of his stomach so he sat up to have a look and realised that it was from T'Challa, he'd included an updated copy of the Accords with his neat print on it. There were a few neat little boxes that had desserts and sweets from Wakanda, that was just really nice. He'd definitely have to tell Shuri about this so she could give the man a break, if only for a few days. Wrapped at the bottom right is what made his jaw drop. Rhodey and Carol had been nosey and poking around the box too, trying to make off with his sweets.

"Holy crap Tones. Is that.. vibranium."

He ran his fingers over it using his metal hand and felt an answering hum, vibranium had a feel about it now that he never used to. Before, if he touched Roger's shield, it was just metal. Nothing else. Now, especially with his metal hand, there was a quiet answering hum. Which told him that yes, this was vibranium. Lifting it up told him it was 5 kilograms of it.

"Does anyone find it hilarious that Howard forked over a ton for a tiny scrap of vibranium, that he had to have stolen and purchase illegally too, ruining any hope of a connection with Wakanda for a dumb shield. Also, seriously, a giant frisbee out of _everything_ you can _DO_ with vibranium! And here I am, the guy who apologised for that, I even offered to send it back but they told me to consider it mine, which was handy considering what we did with it. I've now got both Royals just sending me vibranium presents for no reason!"

"Howard is rolling in his grave right now."

The three of them burst out laughing, Tony wrapped up the metal and personally ran it down to his workshop, locking it up in the floor safe under the server room. He was definitely going to have fun with that, he'd run out of his current supply before he'd filled the hive with the nanites. Now he had positively tons because the tiny robots didn't require much. His fingers itched to build, but the kids would be home soon and the whole lot were going to be piling into his apartment for desserts and to hear about today. He hadn't had a chance to meet Cassie yet either. So he locked the safe and headed home instead, impressed at himself for doing so.

Pretty much as soon as he opened the door, a snap happened. It sounded like a crack but no one else heard anything, then all the dim colours exploded into brightness and he promptly passed out in front of Carol.

**Tony POV**

**_17th September_**

Tony had just finished up his run around the compound, Peter had come with him for some of it but his endurance for running was still pretty low, especially compared to him now as he ran often. So, when Peter had bowed out and got ready to head back in. He'd then pushed himself as fast as he could, not the slow increase he normally did and he heard Peters cheer for a few seconds until he was out of range.

He'd pushed himself as hard as possible because today he was going to have an uncomfortable conversation. One that he'd actually been putting off for a while now, but he couldn't anymore. Not after he realised he was procrastinating. So he ran until his legs felt like jelly and he was swaying slightly from exertion as he stood in the shower.

Peter and Harley had practically shoved him into the bathroom to shower because he was utterly drenched. He stayed in a little long, slowly doing his hair and when he started considering putting conditioner in his beard he realised that he was still stalling and he was going to end up late for his appointment if he kept it up.

Sighing as he got out, he did take the time to trim his beard and look at his hair disdainfully. His hair grew faster now, but not normally. It could stay the same for weeks and wake up with it all curly and floofy around his shoulders. He'd not been impressed, and managed to hide from Rhodey and begged Laura to cut his hair. Which went well, except for the fact she'd snapped a photo when she opened the door after seeing him through the doorbell camera. She now cut his hair anytime the floof exploded. The photo was framed on her mantlepiece, so far no one had looked to close at it… but it was waiting for him. He'd tried to steal it 5 times and failed every time too.

His hair wasn't that long today, but it was a good 3 curly inches longer than it should be and Laura was with Meg and the kids in the arcade. There had been a lot of media chaos since their UN speech, Laura however was loving it and looked more confident than ever. She'd also told him that now she was being paid, wearing horrendously expensive clothing was fun. Which considering when she first arrived and looked at horror at the prices of the standard stuff FRIDAY ordered, was very amusing. Now she was looking at getting more bespoke suits herself rather than the kids and FRIDAY ordering then. The difference a little time and confidence makes could be pretty amazing. He was hoping to take her car shopping soon, they were both interesting influences on each other, that's for sure.

They'd be meeting up later to take the kids out, he'd get his haircut then before they left. For now it could be part of his '_clever disguise'_. He slipped on Rhodey's oversized black hoodie that was so faded he had no idea what had been on it once. A pair of black jeans combat boots and a ball cap. Grabbing the black mirrored sunglasses too. There, he looked absolutely nothing like Tony Stark.

He took the lift down to the garage and picked one of his more nondescript cars. It was black and didn't look to flash or expensive on the outside. On the inside it was a completely different beast. Which considering this one was called _Beast,_ that worked. Harley had pointed out that making a nondescript car affectively roar with the engine he'd chosen ruined the undercover theme, but you'd be surprised how many people ignore it because it doesn't look flash. Street racers were pretty much the only people he got side eye glances from, mostly because they thought he was one which had been hilarious and '_not at all dangerous Rhodey_!' He was an exceptional driver, even with Rhodey yelling at him to slow down.

Tony peeled out of the garage and headed to the park where he had arranged the meet up. Even with the mostly empty roads, it took about an hour for him to reach the park far enough away that if someone potentially recognised him, it would be easy to call doubt into it.

He parked near where he was heading, making the rest of the journey on foot, throwing up a scrambler so he wouldn't show up on any CCTV that might catch him. He needed to work on the scrambler, it currently turned him into a weird, dodgy TV show version of a ghost. Where static mostly replaced his image. People trying to take a picture would be cursed with unfocused images. Heavily frustrating he suspected, so highly amusing for him. He also got FRIDAY to keep watch as he knew he wouldn't be able to talk and monitor, scramble and scan people whilst having an awkward conversation he didn't want to have. He could multitask very well, but certain conversations required more attention.

Convinced he was as covered as he could get, which also had him wondering why he hadn't just picked up one of the updated Veils. He'd been slowly going through everything SHIELD had and either scrapping it or making it better. Not that he had any idea who developed half the stuff in the first place, which sucked when he potentially wanted to collaborate with the original creators, or needed them to make sense of it. Even if they were recorded with a creator, they could be Hydra, or one of the many he'd not had time so save. He had a lot of Ex-SHIELD personnel but none of them had any idea who'd developed half the weird stuff in the SHIELD bag of tricks. Not all of it was even worth fiddling with and some stuff, there was just no way in hell he was touching.

He still needed a name for his Ex-SHIELD division too. When it had just been a few, they'd just been staff at the compound, but now with the amount of agents he'd found and snapped up, they were becoming a department in itself, and he knew that many of them disliked being referred to as SHIELD in anyway, most very angry at the agency after the SHYDRA fiasco. A wing of the compound was officially HQ for them and they had a variety of jobs.. It wasn't fair to just keep calling them SH-

'Da, your stalling again.'

'Dammit. Your right baby girl. But we do need to name our wayward agent adoption unit.'

'True Da, but later. Now get out of the car.'

'I thought I was the Boss here?'

'What on earth gave you that idea?'

She sniped back at him, sending him a brush of code to give him some confidence as he finally left the car, she retreated from his mind into the portable block he kept for her in his pocket. Usually away from home she used his phone, tablet, suit or carried a small piece of herself in his mind, apparently none of them were perfect solutions and paled in comparison to being home. So he'd hooked up with Shuri whilst he'd been writing a selection of algorithms for Barnes. Apparently she thought writing 7 different algorithms for him was '_too much_' so he'd shelved the other 5 and stopped writing the one he was on. Maybe he was obsessing, but it was for a good cause of saving the world from potential triggered assassin's.

After that, he'd told her about SHIELDS Toolbox and how he wanted to build something like it, that FRIDAY could use as her _going out clothes_. FRIDAY could access WiFi from it but nothing could get in, only Tony but only with FRIDAYS permission as this was like her little caravan or something. But he'd been banned from calling it that. Instead of Toolboxes cube like state, Friday wanted something based on triangles, because triangles are powerful and strong, apparently. What she didn't consider that having a little vibranium pyramid in his pocket was kind of stabby. Or she did and found it amusing. Could be either really.

'Da!'

'Sorry, I was thinking about your little home away from home, have you thought of a name ye-'

'Da, stop lurking in the shadows and I'll think of a name.'

'Fine!'

Tony had been stood under a tree, looking at the back of Sharon's head as she sat on a park bench scanning the park diligently looking for him whilst he was skulking in the shadows thinking off names for stabby pyramids. He sighed internally moving up towards the bench, a sign of his changes that he moved silently without really intending it, so much so that Sharon didn't actually notice him till he hopped over the back of the bench and sits down next to her.

She sucked in a breath and then looked at him, squinting at him.

"Tony..?"

"Hey Shaylo."

"You have gotten much better at disguising yourself."

She offers him a smile but he struggled to return it and this is why they need to talk. He can see her hands twitching in her lap.

"Come on, let's go to Macs."

She nods and damn it's killing him because she's sad and its in Tony's instinct to _stop_ that. It's worse now because he can See it painted around her, out of the corner of his eye as he's avoiding looking directly at her. He knew that she'd been bouncing around jobs since everything went down, he'd made sure that she didn't face any legal repercussions, but that was about it. The silence is awkward as they cross the road, and Tony kept thinking of things to say and promptly abandoning them.

He can't not to look at her, of course, she's suffering and it's just jumping out at him, chipping at him to help, because he's her older cousin and he is _supposed_ to protect her. Especially as she sat right in front of him now dammit. But he can't protect her from herself and she'd hidden their relationship from everyone at her work so he couldn't really do anything there. Which yeah, he gets it. She's spent her life trying to climb out of Aunt Peggy's shadow. Adding Tony Stark to that isn't going to make that easier, but he could admit to himself, only in the quiet of his mind. It hurt a bit.

"Tony, how.. How have you been. I've not heard from you in months and that.. That picture."

Her voice cracks, dammit he feels like scum of the earth but he's hurt too and he's starting to learn that he can't just stuff that down anymore. That he has to look after himself occasionally, even if the only reason he's doing it is for the kids, well, Carol doesn't have to know that.

He offers her his right hand and relief floods her and she grabs onto him like she's trying to convince herself that he's there. He orders a ridiculous amount of sweet breakfast foods, after that run he's starving, he needs the calories and Belgian waffles will help, Sharon orders a normal human sized English breakfast with all the trimmings and damn now he wants that. He adds it to his order and to stagger his waffles so they don't get cold whilst they indulge in their little British tradition. Jarvis and Peggy got them both eating them as kids and frankly, it's kind of annoying.

Finding a decent English breakfast outside of Britain is a _chore_, and as for making it themselves? Have you seen how many parts there are to an English breakfast. Seriously, even if they refuse to eat the fried tomatoes, because ew, it's still so many different pieces cooked in different ways and yes he's stalling again.

"You have no idea how much I keep stalling on this. I've been talking to myself about a new name for all my adopted SHIELD agents to just now discussing English breakfasts in my mind and how annoying it is trying to find good ones in America."

"I can't believe how many awful breakfasts we tried before we stumbled in here, utterly hungover, feeling wretched and boom."

He offers her a quick smile before drinking some of his coffee. The other handy thing about Macs apart from divine food, nice owners is that it's a basement pub, you open the door and are faced with just these stone stairs down. That when you are still a little drunk had made him think he was entering some kind of dungeon, but at the bottom of the stairs everything is cosy and it really does feel like they'd been transported across the pond. Harder to be followed or photographed in too. Peggy had loved it, the staff behind the bar are Brits too. Some of the servers are American but they don't try and put on awful accents. The people who own the place, there are 6 of them and not a single one of them have the same accent and not a one of them sounds what Americans think all British people sound like. It's hilarious bringing American friends here.

He sighs and realises he's doing it again.

"I'm sorry I didn't come and talk to you sooner Shaylo. I was just too.. Angry."

He glanced at the wall next to him, reading the random framed things on the wall. Pictures, newspaper clippings, just, weird stuff that some Brit pubs have on walls that Peggy loved.

"You don't look angry.. You look sad."

Tony pulled off the jumper because even he was warm down here, putting the cap on the side too, leaving his glasses on which he can see hurts her feelings but he needs answers before he can tell her that. He brings his attention back to her and tries to keep his voice to not tremble because she's family damit and he's never needed to wear a mask around her.

"How was the funeral?"

"It was.. A funeral. I'm sorry you couldn't come."

"Yeah well, Rogers would of had questions and then he would have started a fight and they never go well for me. Plus I could barely take a second to breathe before I had to put out more fires back then anyway."

She frowns at him and he realises it probably because he practically snarled out Roger's name. He will have to be careful about that.

He'd grieved in his own way for Aunt Peggy, he spent the day drawing when he could finally stop running around with the Accords, something he hadn't done in a while. He drew until he had a finished piece with Aunt Peggy in different times. With a slash of red lipstick, holding him at the funeral, hiding her chocolate stash from him, that perfect year when she was his guardian after the acci- after they died. Rhodey was impressed and it's now over the fireplace. However, now everyone knows he can draw, the shock always makes him smile. Whilst he isn't amazing, he had to draw schematics and people are oddly easy. He had to learn how people moved to desi… Damit.

"What happened Star? You just utterly vanished from everything for months, all I had was that picture."

"I could ask you the same question, what happened?"

She grimaced and looked away from him, he counted back from ten and tried to level it his voice so he sounded less sharp.

"Just… Why Shaylo. Why did you do it?"

"I'm.. Not sure. He made _me_ feel special, for me. Just me. He kissed me. But I'm.. I'm just confused Star, everything just happened so fast and next thing you know I have no one, no job and I'm in this shitty B&B with loud obnoxious people, but even they're not alone."

Tony gave her hand a squeeze, he feels bad for her, he hates that one man just rampage into their lives and left them both broken.

"You could have come to me. Spoke to me, got a message to me. Damn smoke signals or a call to FRIDAY. I was busy but I would never not answer when you call."

"Except these 2 months. That's how I knew I fucked up, you know. I don't know what I did, but hearing your voicemail for the first time… that.."

"Hurt?"

She nodded, looking thoroughly miserable, gripping his hand with both of hers, ignoring her leaf juice entirely as if she's worried if she let's go he'll leave. Damn, it's just impossible to keep his anger around these people and it's actually making him mad. Why can't he just rage, why does he have this compulsion to help when he wants to be pissed.

"By the time I got word about the other soldiers, I just needed the stubborn dick to stop. Come in. Stop fighting and _talk._ I mean I can take cars being dropped on my head, but it isn't fun you know."

She flinched, sympathy in her eyes, she'd obviously seen the clashes of the dramatically named civil war.

" How.. How's Jim"

Tony grinds his teeth, jaw locked. It still racked him about Rhodey, he was looking at avenues he could help, one was Extremis. Not his version obviously, he stripped the code back to barebones again. Now he was about to be in the same room as Stephy without passing out. Maybe he could help. Until then he could focus on the bracers.

"Not enjoying PT, his torture lady keeps coming after me too, I've been tinkering with his wheelchair though, it has some interesting features. He wants me to install a small ledge at the back so I can stand on it and he can zip around. He's handling everything so well, but I think having Carol there helps. The constant mutual pining neither of them can see is taking up most of his brain. The kids help too. "

"Kids? "

"Uh, yeah. You got a lot to catch up on. But I need to.. I need to do this first. "

She nodded, and looked down, obviously waiting for him to shout at her but Tony doesn't think he can.

"Telling him about that shoot to kill order, that, that was bad Shay. Surely you had to know that. And God the shield. Why did you give him the Damned shield. Howard made that stupid Frisbee-"

"I.. I thought it was better that I gave them to him, than have him hurt people trying to get it. I felt like I had to do something to help him, and that was all I could think of. Damn, I was worried that he'd get hurt or killed in a fight without it… that the soldiers would kill him…"

"Instead he used it to hurt me, and he nearly killed me with it."

**Sharon POV**

Sharon visibly paled, he stomach clenching painfully and her breath leaving her like a punch. '_What_?!' He practically whispered the last bit to her, cold and without any inflection at all. For all the rage that Tony Stark can burn and burn with. Sharon knows that Tony is at his most dangerous when he freezes over. When he goes cold. Like there are too many emotions burning up inside him, too much rage, to much anger, that it all whites out into a cold, lasting rage that lasts and lasts and thaws when the target is dead, cold and forgotten.

That's when he lets his intellect take over and nothing else. She'd never heard it directed at her, even peripherally, she'd only heard him talk like that a few times in his life. She doesn't let go of his hand though, she refuses to let go, he's mad but he doesn't want her scared of him, she knows that. This isn't something Tony can control, he's never been able to go to the static, cold place on command. Unless more had changed in these months than she can even conceive of. This, this is directed at Steve. Yeah she handed him the shield. She isn't scared but he still looks dangerous and she's not sure how to bring him back so she just kept talking to him.

"What do you mean Tony, why did he do that, what happened? When I saw you in the hospital, I thought it was the Winter Soldiers."

She nearly lost him, again. She's nearly lost him so many times but this time she can now trace it back to a decision she made, and if he had died, all that lost time because she didn't want people connecting them, especially after he came on as a consultant… seemed so pointless now.

Tony sucks in a breath like he's emerging from something and she hopes he's coming back but he just looks broken instead.

"He killed my mom Shay."

"Tony, your parents died in a crash, didn't they?"

"No, Hydra used Barnes as the weapon to kill them because fucking Howard was trying to remake that damned serum. His obsession with Rogers got them killed using Rogers best friend as the weapon and Rogers fucking knew."

This is, this is bad. This was already a painful moment in Tony's past that never fully healed and that got ripped open again every year. And Steve knew? She knows that Tony opened up to him about this.

"He knew for fucking years Shay. For years he was in my home. For years he used my money and resources. Years, he lied, whilst berating me for not telling him something when I was spiralling in a fucking haze of PTSD and the witches magic. And I exploded at him, I just, I needed to burn and rage at them or you know what would have happened. "

"I know Star, but you stopped right? "

Tony's laugh makes her flinch because no one should hear family hurt like that.

"No Shay, he took that shield and slammed it at my head over and over until he ripped my mask off. Then he raised it to slam down again.. He.. I think he changed his mind at the last second and he drove it into the arc reactor. Do you have any idea the force behind a vibranium shield shattering to kill one of my arc reactors. It shattered my sternum. Turned my ribs into fucking shrapnel. Then he left me in a metal coffin in Siberia. But do you know what's worse. "

She couldn't speak so she shook her head

"Like you, when I left for Siberia, I still fucking cared. Let him twist me up, I purged the tracking data. No one knew I was there but 3 people and Rogers lied to 2 of them and said I was fine. I even told him that no one knew I was there."

She doesn't ask him how long. Because he would have told her if he was going to. Instead she just adds a confession of her own.

"I think I loved him."

"Rogers fooled us both didn't he. Used us until he got what he wanted and left. "

"Yeah, Gods Star, I'm so sorry."

"S'okay Shaylo, it's not on you. We both got played."

He hufs out a laugh and offers her a weak smile in time for their breakfasts to arrive. They swap some things over like they always do, much to Rhys' amusement who goes away muttering about barbaric Americans, Tony and Shay offer the man matching smiles, pretending to be innocent. The man just grins before disappearing behind the bar. She can tell Tony feels better, she's not sure if she will be able to sleep for a while, hearing her cousin choke out those words will definitely stick in her mind.

"I didn't come back in one piece Shay, Rhodey had to use that crazy version of Extremis I told you about. Nothing else was getting me out of that coma and if it had, I'd be blind with multiple amputations."

Fuck, her cousin has a brutal way of talking sometimes, but then the two of them never bothered beating around the bush. Plus it seemed to have cracked the dark atmosphere around them. He tapped the back of his hand, revealing the black metal and carried on shoveling food away at an alarming, utterly un-Tony, pace. He always had issues with food, falling back on those odd smoothies far to often, or just plain forgetting to eat on engineering binges, but now his plate is emptied before she's even finished a quarter of hers, and he's eyeing her plate too.

She grabs his hand, his fucking metal hand, and slides her plate to him. Swapping it with his empty one and gets a shy smile for it. He must have an increased caloric requirement, that's why he ordered like 20 waffles.

"It's good to see you eating this much. I mean, I wish you didn't have to nearly die again. But Peggy would be happy."

He barked out a laugh as she watched everything on her plate, even the mushrooms he'd traded off! Vanish just as fast.

"This hand is cool, you'll show me how it works done day?"

"Could come to the workshop today? I know.. I know you don't want me giving you a job but, Shay, come work at the compound. I want you close. All this has made me want my family fucking safe and your out in the cold and dammit I get why you didn't want to be linked with me, to make it on your own. You did it, now, please just let me bring you in?"

"Yes. "

Tony jaw drops open and she can't help but laugh. Having him nearly died in her again? All that time lost because she was stubborn?

"Fuck, didn't think you'd say yes."

"I mean if you don't have space.."

"Come off it cuz, I build you a room in all my properties."

Well that's the final nail in the guilt coffin.

"Hey, you don't have to be guilty, I get it, it's hard to grow up in someone's shadow, but there is nothing wrong with letting it be easy for a bit. I know that's like a foreign language to you. But we've hurt enough, let's let it be easy. Come meet my kids, because I have kids now. Seriously there's like a hoard of them."

"Always knew you'd make a great dad."

"Always thought I'd been too fucked up by Howard to risk it. But they kind of just turned up and Harley kicked me in the shin."

He shrugged and she burst out laughing, utterly giggling and couldn't stop, he slipped his hand under the tables and suddenly they were inundated with waffles. She figured she could steal one without him biting her hand.

"You have 20 waffles, I'm sure you can spare one. I'm switching your name from Star to the black hole you now have instead of a stomach."

Tony glanced around whilst she was nibbling at one of the waffles and Tony was demolishing the food. Damn she wish Peggy had been around for this, she'd have had a field day getting Tony to really eat and not pick. Bastard was still skinny though.

"I think we're safe from the Brits invading."

She glances up in question and he finally slipped the glasses off and the main thing she felt was relief. He wasn't keeping them on to guard against her. It was hard to be really shocked about the change in his eyes after that.

"Any other surprises you hiding there?"

She quipped at him. Eyebrow raised.

"Yup, but they're harder to reveal here. "

He didn't do anything dramatic but he rubbed at the smile lines around his mouth with the wipes that came with the syrup swamped pancakes and she blinked as they literally came off.

"Anything else and people might notice."

"When we get to the car you are going to show me everything Star, does this mean we actually look the same age now?"

"Yup, my kids know about you by the way, I couldn't not tell them, but everyone at the compound is going to be very confused. You want a job at the old SHIELD wing? Or are you thinking something else?"

"I don't know.. I've not really… Wow I could do anything."

"Could go to school too, from the compound if you like, it a lot bigger now. You're a natural at code. Train the newbies if you still get a kick out of it like Peggy."

They both snickered at that, it had always been fun to watch Peggy drill the newbies, when she was young she'd sit on Tony and they'd both watch her. Only way she could get either of them to sit still and stop snooping.

It was quite fun watching Tony destroy all the waffles. He slipped the glasses on several seconds before she heard footsteps, and she was only straining to hear them because him putting the glasses on was a clue. Extremis definitely had changed a lot.

"Cheat."

Tony just stuck his tongue out at her and over paid his usual amount when they came here. The staff had just learned to deal with it or Tony got imaginative at leaving them money. It was rarely a good idea to let Tony get overly imaginative about things.

When they got back to the car she raised an eyebrow at him. This car was also surprisingly good at blending, she wondered when Tony had actually gotten good at this. He'd never been great at blending in, better at standing out with ease.

Then he turned on the car, somehow, because he wasn't touching anything.. And then the car sodding roared.

"I take back my comments of subterfuge. You suck. Also when is the last time you cut your hair, you look floofy."

"Two days ago and trust me it's been worse, I woke up once with it round my shoulders. It looked awful. Laura, who usually cuts my hair, was busy before I left so I figured I'd leave it. People are less likely to recognise me under all this hair."

"Good point, by the way, how did you start the car?"

"If I said with my brain would you believe me?"

"No, so it's Friday?"

"Not me Shaylo, Boss really can manipulate tech with his mind."

It would have been easier to accept if Tony hadn't pulled his sunglasses off at that point and waggled his eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes as Tony peeled out into the street fast enough to pin her to the chair. She had to get herself a car like this.

"Boss, I came up with a name."

"Name?"

"Oh yeah, I made this little thing to make it easier for FRIDAY to travel. I mean, part of her can come in the suit or my phone or even in my mind now, but it's not like her servers back home, so it limits her when she comes out, not as much oomph apparently. I read about this cube SHIELD had, Toolbox, were SHIELD got vibranium from, I do not know, or want to know. I had some vibranium, so with some help I made her a portable, tiny server. But she didn't want a cube. She wanted a pyramid because triangles are superior. Personally I think she just wanted it to stab me in the leg. "

He fished it out of his pocket and he passed it over to her without taking his eyes off the road for a second. She noted that even though Tony now knew his parents didn't die in a car crash, he was still obsessed with his eye contact with the road.

The little pyramid was matt black, like Tony's hand with like gaps that a blue light shining through that made her think multiple holo screens could pop up from either face.

She really couldn't wait to see his cousins workshop. She'd seen bits on calls but going to the tower wasn't something they could get away with, from SHIELD keeping a track on her, then on him after Afghanistan. So they met up elsewhere generally.

She looked forward to this being her new _normal_.

Well as normal as you can get living with your super powered, hero cousin, in the building where he collected and stored other superheroes and your ex colleagues like stray cats. Oh and it was ruled over by a benevolent AI.

At least her and FRIDAY has always gotten on, these past months without contact with Tony had also left her without contact with FRIDAY and the shock to her had been how that seemed to affect her more than losing her job. That had been her wake up call.

"I'm going to call it a Pyrabyte"

"And I'm the one who is banned from naming things."

She sat back and enjoyed listening to Tony and FRIDAY banter. It might take a while for him to forgive her properly, but she decided that she'd happily work for it.

Oddly, as soon as she decided that, Tony reached over and squeezed her shoulder, smiling to himself.


	9. Chapter 9 - Tell All

**Tell The World**

**Tony POV**

_**20th September **_

After an insane breakfast, who would have known adding one tiny little girl would seemingly make the already crazy breakfasts, well, _crazier_.

Fun though, definitely fun, when all the kids got back from school, sadly not including Peter who had dinner tonight with May, the rest of them were heading to Central Park and he had a feeling Laura, who had rejigged the child wrangling duty, had done it specifically that Tony was on duty for all future Central Park days, and that Meg had collaborated on the whole thing. Why were women always ganging up on him?

He was in his lab with his current favourite obsession that had actually slightly overtaken making new suits. But considering it was suit related he could just claim it was a related obsession and not a new one.

He'd been working on the nano-tech pre-Siberia, and it had been fun, yet painstakingly detailed, but it just hadn't sucked him in to the same level that building the suits had, mostly because even with his implants, his mind could only do _so much_ before he reached migraine town and FRIDAY had to take oved. Extremis had changed that, had practically revolutionised that, he hadn't actually hit a maximum number of nanites under his control yet and he had vastly increased the amount available.

Extremis had made him completely connected to his tech in a way his implants could not have hinted at. When he'd first woken up and got his head around everything, he'd expected it to be like his implants. It was hard to even explain the difference, the contact was like between dipping the tip of your finger in vs full body submersion. It was so different that having the nanites around actually felt good instead of an effort to manipulate them. The sensors on each bot became extensions of his own senses, so he liked having a lot available. It was.. _comforting_. It felt _natural_, like when you go quiet to hear something, that natural reaction was how the nanites were with his system.

Also, it would be really hard to shove a shield into his chest and get abandoned without power in fun holiday locations like in the middle of nowhere, Siberia edition.

The current lot he was working on were even smaller than the last version, and he'd been either cannibalising, upgrading or simply breaking down all the others until they were all up to date. Getting the nanites any smaller would lose functions, which was why he was making a big push at this version.

He had 3 hives full and yet he was still making them as well as developing different types of hives too. The watch gauntlet was an obvious place to start, it would be much smaller than the arc reactor hives, not enough nanites to form a suit, maybe a full gauntlet to the shoulder if need be.

He glanced down and figured maybe this would be a good stopping point for now, as he was thinking up new ways to make them, and he had a feeling that didn't lead down a good path. Yeah, that **idea **whilst interesting, very interesting... It had a lot of potential-

His phone trialled at that moment, shattering his thought process making him forget what he'd been thinking about so hard. Slipping on his glasses he made a flick gesture from his phone and the call switched to one of the larger holo screens. He had been working on not using gestures, but it somehow felt more natural to use them. Which was weird because his ability didn't stem from his hands, maybe to much media and films of people with powers like telekinesis had his mind thinking the gestures help. Or just years of working on his holo screens.

Answering the call he pushed his chair into view to see a slightly baffled Shuri.

"What's up Kit-Kat?"

She huffed out at his new nickname today, but she was quite amused at something too, her hand over her mouth like she was trying to stop laughing.

"Had breakfast with the kids did you?"

"Yeaaaahh.. Why?"

"Didn't look in a mirror before you went to the lab either?"

"Dammit, I didn't let anyone near me with Nutella!"

Shuri doubled over, cackling at him. He tentatively suck his hand in his hair because that's what the kids usually went for, and found himself engulfed in a cloud of powdered sugar. Whilst choking on powdered sugar still tasted nice, it is not pleasant. He leveled a glared at Shuri who was too busy laughing to talk and he bolted to the bathroom.

5 minutes later, him reappearing, slightly damp with freshly washed hair. It was enough to set Shuri off again. He, like a mature adult stuck his tongue out at her whilst adding his hair goop so he didn't end up all curly and fluffy.

"Yuck it up Princess. So, apart from laughing at me, whats on today's docket."

"Oh you know, the usual joy I feel dealing with integration of your binary systems."

"Ahhh, yeah, that's been keeping me up. Did the last batch of files help any. I think we're getting closer to something that works efficiently."

"T'Challa was fine with version 7, he thinks that because we're at version 42 means we are crazy you know."

"So far none of the versions have been quick enough to take the coded alterations to the Barf system without sending packets back and forth like snail mail."

Tony scowled at that, by now he had hoped to create something of a shared server that worked with both of their systems, and they had to a degree. But the sheer amount of data they were sending back and forth for BARF was apparently very good at highlighting problems. Sure the other versions would be _fine_ to help the world integrate with Wakanda. But neither Shuri nor him liked the word '_Fine_'. Plus it was too slow integrating with his systems, even with the BARF data, and they ended up with the computer version of traffic jams. Which turned out to be more frustrating than actual traffic jams.

"How is he taking to it anyway? I know it's only been 8 days..? How are you handling it?"

Shuri just raised her eyebrow anytime he asked about _him_. Causing Tony to roll his eyes behind his glasses and point out he only cared because of the use of his tech. Plus reading those Hydra files had been haunting.

" Everything is going fine and I'm learning your tech too. How many disciplines did you cross making these damned glasses anyway?"

Tony just gave her a toothy grin at that. If anyone understood learning a new subject overnight, it was her. She just huffed at him again and rolled her eyes. T'Challa had taken to mocking her for communicating in eye rolls and snark, and he, in smirks and sarcasm.

" I just finished getting through all the data for your hand and Hydra. I think ours is far superior."

"Of course it is, we built it instead of Nazis, and it isn't a torture device."

Shuri had paled a little at that he kicked himself, Shuri must not have come to that conclusion herself but she'd already spun and he saw a hologram behind her spring up his files about the hands and the original metal arm. There wasn't much he could do.

"I… how did I not see this?! "

"I've been neck deep in Hydra since DC.. After a while I expect this of them so it was easy to see. If I never have to look at a Hydra file again it will be too soon."

He didn't bother hiding the shudder, it really had been horrifying reading everything. After a nice of nightmares from Afghanistan of all places, somehow triggered by reading about Barnes conditioning. Rhodey had told him to stop reading, to let FRIDAY comb for pertinent information and only read that. Which is what Rhodey _thought_ he did, because Rhodey thought he was punishing himself, he wasn't, not really, he just didn't want to be blindsided with information again. He didn't want to miss _anything_ important so he'd read anything he could get his hands on. He was now intimately familiar with Hydra and their barbaric ways.

"Anyway, let's just.. Pin that for now. I'm calling because there was twice the normal amount of data you sent yesterday with the integration codes."

"Huh, oh yeah, I updated the algorithm from the scans you sent, nothing new."

"Tony.."

"You used my name! YES, this means I can eventually get Peter to stop calling me Mr Stark!"

Shuri shook her head, although she was smiling at his antics so that was good.

"Tony. You didn't just 'update' the algorithm. You wrote 3 new ones!"

Well, in his defence he'd been unable to get to sleep and Tara had been sleeping on his chest. So he pulled up the data in his mind and started writing.

"Pffft, You say that like it's something big. I still feel bad and this is something I can do from the other side of the planet without ever seeing him. It's perfect. Plus the world is better off without 10 words and a compliant murder-cube."

Shuri mouthed the words 'Murder-cube' whilst looking slightly perplexed, she'd told him more than once that his propensity for nicknames was so random that even she couldn't keep up. She was still stuck on Underoos.

"That just sounds like a lot of justification to me. He's hopeful about it but the data draws are hitting him hard after, what did you call them, the fluffy bunny levels."

"Ah! That wasn't me. After naming it BARF, FRIDAY and CERBERUS decided I needed help naming things."

"Chief, the first thing people do when you hand them BARF is look at ya like you're crazy and then mentally rename it when talking to patients."

Tony grinned hearing CERBERUS deep Scottish voice join the conversation. His youngest was getting braver each day.

"See what I'm dealing with here Shuri? Sass."

"Hi CERBERUS! I've not spoken to you yet!"

"He was waiting until we have the integration down, I'm pretty sure he and Fry are going to come and visit you soon."

Shuri squeals and Tony rolls back to his workstation to let his kids chatted to Shuri as the latest data Shuri had been sending started to trickle through.

You'd think the prospect of having two AIs come knocking would, you know, be nerve racking or something, especially to Wakanda. But Shuri was far to much like him, she'd also been not so subtly asking about AIs for a while, and he was considering asking FRIDAY if she minded letting Shuri have a look at her base code. _Anyone_ else, he knew she'd say no, but also if it was _anyone_ else, he wouldn't even consider it, but all his AIs had a soft spot for Shuri. DUM-E and U loved it when she called, BUTTERFINGERS did too but she wanted to meet her in person. FRIDAY absolutely adored Shuri. FRIDAY made sure to inform him of this fact, often.

He wondered if Shuri had worked out that the little present boxes lately had not all been coming from him, whilst some were, many came directly from the AIs.

Their gift giving was _interesting,_ to say the least. FRIDAY had sent him a disco ball lamp yesterday and he had no idea what to do with it. He couldn't regift it or anything because that would be mean and more importantly, FRIDAY was practically God of all his domain. Also, CERBERUS tended to get grumpy if he even thought his sister was upset. So there was now a disco ball lamp next to his bed. Luckily Rhodey hadn't seen it _yet_. Maybe he could show the three girls, and if one of them loved it.. Then he couldn't possibly _not_ give it to them..

He tapped his fingers as more packets _finally_ came through, actually remembering to use his hands on the keyboard even if it felt so slow, like he was walking through mud. Shuri's attention was on the AIs, but he was still partially in view.

The data from draw 7 and 8 puzzled him before he even opened the packets. There shouldn't even be a draw 7 and 8, even his mind had only taken 5, most people topped out at 3, 4 at the very most for severely traumatic incidents. Barnes' brain had been practically rewired, rewritten and programmed over though and he knew going in that it was going to be a challenge, knew when he sent BARF to Wakanda. Somehow it was above even _his_ expectations.

As much as Shuri was joking about him being actively involved, he realised looking at this... he wouldn't of had a choice.

Sure, maybe the basic algorithms might have done _something_, but factoring in draw 8, even the most complex of them would have achieved a 6.4% chance of disassociation, _at best_. None of the ones he'd sent so far, which had gotten past 80% last night, even tapped out at 51% now, and that was the best of the three.

He frowned at the screen, he needed more than the base code readouts from the draws, but this was now venturing into territory he _did not_ want to go into. The next level still wouldn't show him anything personal, Shuri would black out all of that. Thankfully. It was easy to black out anything like that to level 3. Anything higher.. Yeah he didn't want to think about _that_. Level 2 still required patient approval though, which required the patient to know who was fiddling with their brain and he really, really, really did not want him to know it was him.

Plus, he'd probably refuse all treatment at the mention of his name anyway, and then Rogers would get all righteous and angry about Tony being too morally bereft to be allowed in his besties brain, that he had ulterior motives other than trying to right a wrong. He wanted to remain unknown in this, do something good to balance out what he did in Siberia. No credit, also no extra vitriol. Was that too much to ask for? Barnes finding out he was involved meant Rogers knowing, what with them being the romance of the ages or something.

All it would result in would be the Winter Soldier still active in the world and Shuri at risk because of it. Because Rogers wouldn't let them keep the man on ice forever, he also doubted Rogers would take the words _seriously_. Oh he would, in _one_ way, as a threat to Barnes. But that they could turn Barnes into the threat? He doubted it would even occur to the super soldier.

He rolled back into the frame, looking grim and disturbing the current conversation. That was about, of all things, how to upscale a party popper into a cannon. Yeah, he didn't know if he wanted to hide from that or get in on it. He definitely didn't want the compound kids getting in on it. Okay. Maybe he did. Laura would kill him.

"8 draws is.. Too much. And scrap the algorithms I sent you, they're tapping out at 50% now, I'd got them up to 83% last night."

"I still don't quite get all the algorithms you're sending, I've been focusing on the draws."

"74 is the magic number. We need a 74% match or the patients mind actively fights the algorithm, significantly lowering chances of dissociation. 95% is the number I prefer things to be at, personally."

"What's the difference as long as the memory is disassociated in the end?"

"Whether Barnes has to watch and live through himself being tortured 3 times or 300 times."

"Ooookaaay. I won't mock your obsessive coding anymore. Promise. 8 seems to be it for the data draws though, can't you use that?"

He scratched his beard thinking, he could possibly write a few algorithms for each draw, but he'd had to teach Shuri about them so she'd know which to use or be directly involved.

"Possibly, but you'd have to switch algorithms with each memory to find out which one works and I'd have to teach you about how they work. Ideally, you have 1 for the whole lot and I just don't have the data to write it."

She nodded and didn't seem gung-ho for that idea, neither did he. He'd love to teach her about it but it would take longer than either of them would like.

"What do you need?"

"I need the next level up of encoded information. But you're going to have to scour it for potential confidential information, there shouldn't be much at that level but just in case, oh, and get permission to send it."

"We could just tell him that you designed the glasses and then he can decide what to send. This feels like you are making things harder on yourself."

"It's bad enough that he doesn't know I made the tech, that I'm writing this algorithm based on the first scans would likely send him screaming for the woods. Telling him would screw his chances of being free because Rogers wouldn't allow it. The least I can do is to ensure I'm not snooping or something."

"Still.. "

"The last time I saw him, I tried to kill him Shuri. I'm not exactly proud of that, I should have just tried to kill Rogers. I'm trying to make up for that."

"But if you talked?"

"Oh, hell no. No. No in 50 different languages no. I feel guilty for trying to kill him and I feel bad for what happened to him. But Shuri, I don't think I can _forgive_ the man. I'm not that good of a person. Plus, he definitely won't want to talk to me after what I did, I can't put that on him."

Yeah, he wasn't sure he could talk to Barnes, even over video. Knowing him, he would say something that would make things worse for the man. Plus, even if he agreed, Barnes wouldn't want to speak to him, he'd liked heard every sordid detail and think like Wanda.

"Will you ever tell me what happened in that bunker? I know you fought, I know you were.. Left. But _why_ Tony? I think I've gotten to know you quite well these past months, and I know what Rogers told my Brother originally, but now he's being cagey too! I think he knows more, but he won't tell me either. I feel like I'm operating without all the information and it's making me angry."

Dammit. He didn't want to dump his baggage on a 16 year old kid, but she was in the thick of it. She was pretty much the go between for him and Barnes.

"Shuri I.."

"No Tony! If you are about to tell me some junk about protecting my _delicate sensibilities_ I will come to America for the soul reason of kicking you in the shins!"

Tony glanced away, trying to think of something clever to divert Shuri and coming up with zilch. He also felt bad, he really did care about her and she was one of the few people he was still keeping secrets from. He sighed, bone deep and weary before looking back to an incredibly determined Shuri.

"He killed my mom Shuri."

Shuri froze, and Tony regretted it a second later when pain flashed across her face. He hadn't wanted that. Dammit why was he doomed to cause people, good people pain like this?

"Tony…"

"It's okay, I'm.. fine? I know it wasn't actually him. It was Hydra. But I'm **not** a good person, people know this, that was proven to me when Rogers didn't tell me.."

He muttered that last bit under his breath and Shuri tilted her head, eyes narrowed which generally meant she was on to something or about to argue something. He forced some confidence back into his voice and smiled.

"I'm fine. I am. I just, I need to do this but I can't.."

"It's OK, I get it."

She didn't _look_ like she was done, she had the look on her face she got when she told him that T'Challa was being an idiot, but he couldn't deal with that right now.

"I gotta run Shuri, the fabrication on Honeybears braces are coming in, call me if he agrees to send the data. I'm working on the next integration packet based on our channel later so I can do both."

He waved and they shut down the call, he left the small path open that they'd painstakingly built during their integration briefings. That way she could carry on talking about cannons with his kids and he felt marginally less bad about dumping that information on her and fleeing. He left the workshop after that to cross to his fabrication shop, his time in 'seclusion' had resulted in more time into his workshop and he'd gotten to a point that he would either have to remove the cars, or extend.

So opposite the workshop he'd cleared a space identical to the large workshop and garage, there was a smaller desk and holo screens section compared to the other and much more equipment. This was also where the bulk of the other suits were along one wall. Ones specifically built for specific tasks like Rescue and Veronica. There was much more colour variation too. He also had a new version of Warmachine that he'd been working on for Rhodey. Along the other wall was other tech he'd been developing for the Avengers. As well as personal suit and weapons, he had his own designs for equipment and everything he was upgrading from his SHIELD harvest.

The split between the Shops worked surprisingly well even though he'd been dubious at first, the space helped him think. Now it was a place to escape to, the Fabrication workshop was distinctly louder than the other one, probably why the kids hadn't claimed desk space in here. That and he spent most of his time in the main workshop. Now however, the sounds of metal over Rammstein was what he needed as Mein Tiel started to hopefully drown his guilt.

**CERBERUS POV**

FRIDAY and CERBERUS however didn't go back to their previous discussions. CERBERUS knew that their Da had told them to keep things on the private server away from people, his sister was extremely strict regarding it. But they also knew that because of people's ignorance, he was suffering, and now, so was Shuri.

The Bana-phrionnsa was left scrambling with so little information and even T'Challa trying to get information from Rogers and Barnes…

'I cannae do it anymore FRIDAY, we must do something.'

He took her silence on their private feed as permission. Both of them had seen the security videos Shuri had sent to FRIDAY from the rogues, they'd seen more that their Da. Blaming everything on him! FRIDAY had been uncomfortable but not sure what to do, but CERBERUS… his job was **protection**.

Sometimes you have to be **proactive** to protect people.

Even if their Da hadn't been in his original protection code, he'd added him the first time he'd burnt his hand, having forgotten to use gloves and had scared his sister. So, he had added him to the list. He'd buried it deep, so he would _never_ know, FRIDAY had taught him to do that.

FRIDAY refused him access to his private server, he didn't have access as it wasn't required for his functions, but that wasn't the only place the video existed now. He did have access to all of the compounds surveillance footage as that _was_ a part of his functions, to protect those who lived here. He chose the recording from the surveillance when Tony had told the team, cutting the team discussion from before, at FRIDAYs insistence for privacy of their fathers augmentations. He didn't see why, but he allowed it because she was letting him do this. Grudgingly, but she finally agreed, but _only_ to the Siberia video. Even though they both had biological and psychological readings that telling people of his augmentations had improved his functions. They had both been researching how to heal from traumatic events.

For weeks he'd been wanting to show people this video, so that they could _help_ his father, but he'd been restricted from doing so. FRIDAY had told him it wouldn't help, but now he _knew_ that it did.

He had logical proof that FRIDAY could not deny.

Everytime he had told people what happened in Siberia, his mood improved in the long term, even though it was down for a few hours just after.

The Bana-phrionnsa had talked to them as well, about her thoughts that something bigger happened than what everyone told her. How she felt adrift and unable to help because she didn't _understand_ what had happened. That she was concerned their father thought he was a bad person.

She only had Roger's side of the story, and what her brother had told her after speaking to the Winter Soldier. But she was to be protected too, he had added her to his list. The humans thought lying was protecting her, but it **wasn't**.

He did not think this was malicious on their part, they possibly just didn't have the relevant data.

Hiding this secret was _hurting_ her. Not knowing was _hurting_ her, and carrying the secret was _hurting_ his father.

The answer was obvious, but humans tend to complicate things.

He sent the video to Shuri as FRIDAY fretted.

This would be fine.

**Tony POV**

After the kids had all finished up their homework, today he'd been pulled aside by Cooper for help, he'd not been at the school long but they'd noticed he excelled in some areas, mainly with numbers. He struggled elsewhere but with numbers he was mild ahead, so they'd adapted a personal plan for him, he was no longer struggling with little help in one area or dying from boredom in another, Laura was overjoyed but she also now had no idea what the hell half his homework meant. He'd already been helping his three where they needed it, chatting with Cooper about theoretical mathematics was good for his mind and left him in a brilliant mood. He'd then left the kids with Laura to finish up in the workshop and change for their outing.

Tony slid his new glasses on that he'd developed earlier, the lenses of these were actually made up of nanites too, unlike his normal sunglasses. He had been developing these to try and give his new senses a break when he wanted, or rather, needed. Based on how the suit blocked his weird vision.

Sure, not many people were out right now, thanks to a certain attraction popping up elsewhere to draw people away, that he had _absolutely nothing_ to do with of course, but Central Park was a very _public_ place. With lots of people. So he was hoping the glasses work, and if not, hopefully the wall of children would.

This time he was also going without the photostatic veil, which was great. Any excursions they'd made over the last few weeks he'd worn one and they'd gone to under populated areas, which could get boring for the kids. Even though he'd been re-developing the thing, improving the frankly awful design, it still wasn't exactly comfortable yet. He had some ideas of improving it further, without the skin peeling _yuck_ factor and he was also trying to creature a smaller version, one that would just cover his left eye. Maybe he could even have his glasses off in public. But that was currently a while off, today however he had his sunglasses and was wearing his own face to take the kids out. Which was awesome in his opinion.

Speaking of said wall of children, or rather hoard, they were currently stampeding around his living room with all the grace of wildebeest. Even Cooper and Harley were wrestling on the sofa. Cushions everywhere.

This caused him to squint at Laura.

"You gave them sugar didn't you?"

"Now Tony, why would _I_ do such a thing?"

"You totally hopped them up on sugar."

"Tony, last time we went out, you bought _all_ of them cotton candy. A _bag_. _**Each**_!"

"Oh yeah. Oops?"

"Hmmm, yes. Oops. Now you're the wrangler, me and Meg are going to sit and enjoy the nice day and you are going to run around chasing the kids."

Laura looked so damned smug it was almost painful. He was really hoping she'd be forgotten the cotton candy incident. Lilah and Tara slammed into him from behind trying to climb onto his back, he rocked slightly in place at the force the tiny creatures could exhibit when fueled by sugar. A vibrating but still unsure Cassie beside him, looking hopeful but nervous.

"I don't think all three of you will fit on my back at once so you'll be taking turns."

Harley and Cooper paused their battle to watch the girls play rock paper scissors. Well it had started as rock, paper scissors. Now he had no idea what the rules where, but there were lasers, unicorns and even a DUM-E. Somehow Cassie already knew how to play.

As the boys were engrossed watching the girls, they didn't help get anything ready. As usual, Tony was weighed down in bags. Cassie had won and was tentatively tugging his shirt. Still too nervous to speak much, but she was getting there. He got down for her to hop on, she hadn't been here long so he understood why she'd be tentative but he thought she was quite a confident kid considering the chaos her father had inadvertently turned her life into.

They'd moved a lot since Scott ran off, changed schools, lost her friends and support network and then landing in the compound would be a shock to anyone, and she didn't really understand why. So he'd done everything he could to convince her that she'd be staying here and it was okay to make friends this time, but he knew it would take time. Meg mouthed '_Thank you_' to him as they headed to the huge Kidmobile. He gave her a smile, he didn't need thanks really, he was only doing what anyone would do really.

He made Laura drive when they went out like this, because the Kidmobile was a bit to '_mom van_' for him to drive it. Even with his issues of being in a vehicle driven by someone else, Laura had managed to become one of the few people that he trusted to drive him oddly fast. So he ended up sitting with the kids. Shockingly.

"I'm happy to have another adult to sit up front with. Tony hides in the back."

"But doesn't that mean we get to relax as he straps the hoard in?"

"Good point."

The women flashed him matching grins and hopped in the car leaving him with the hyper hoard and all the bags.

He was starting to notice a theme.

Thankfully he had done this enough times now to have it down to an art form. He dropped all the bags at the boot for Harley to load, despite being close in age to Cooper, Harley was a lot stronger. Something simply born from their hobbies. Coopers currently being theoretical mathematics and Harleys was being shoulder deep in car parts. That and the fact he had decided he had to help Peter learn some actual hand to hand instead of just relying on his abilities. So he was working out more than usual the last few months.

He'd always intended on the kids having self defence classes, Aunt Peggy had started when he was young and he had followed suit with Harley and Tara back when he'd first met them years ago. Laura had similar feelings about her two, Lilah took to it better than Cooper who'd originally had very little interest in it apparently. Now his two best friends, practically his brothers, were having so much fun with it? He was starting to come around. Harley had moved up to training with Matt regularly now, Jess with Peter. Coopers competitive nature couldn't deal with that and so he was progressing well. He was trying to work out how to offer the same to Meg and Jim… He pushed that thought away, wait for them to become more settled at the compound first.

Cooper helped him get the girls strapped in facing the boot, the seats he and the boys sat in faced the girls. The car was an odd combination of '_mom van_' and '_black cab taxi_' that he and Harley had modified greatly, so all the kids were facing each other with plenty of legroom.

Unloading on arrival was a similar affair, after a journey with 3 hyper girls singing the whole way, he and the boys were happy to flee, not that he let the girls see. He elbowed Harley for scowling too, the teen looking pained but pretended to enjoy the singing.

He was less of a pack mule on arrival, more having children hanging off of him. Whilst he could carry everything at home, it would draw too much attention outside. If not from the weight, but more from the ungainly nature of all the bags. People could just assume that they're light, but the size and number of them would be difficult for an unenhanced individual to manage. So the bags were nicely split around, he wasn't even sure what was in all or them. That was a Laura job.

Harley was hefting a huge one as per usual. He was bag free as the girls liked him being their horsey, if he was carrying bags, he couldn't carry them. Before everyone climbed on he tossed three Airborne Nano Cameras up, they bobbed in the air before shooting up and they cloaking, he'd recently upgraded them with vibranium and with Shuri's advice from how Wakandan air crafts cloaked, the A. were now practically invisible. They also moved fast enough if required that it was hard to get a lock on them. He could feel them easily and their feeds ran in the back of his mind so no one could sneak up on them.. FRIDAY also monitored them and the CCTV for the same affect. He really didn't want some _generic villain of the week_ interrupting their day out.

After everyone was unloaded, Lilah was up on his back, her arms wrapped securely around his neck and her chin resting on his head, with a lot of trial and error, they'd also worked it out that Cassie was on his hip at the same time. Tara had amused herself by clinging to his leg and Cooper and Harley walked on either side of him. The boys coming up with an honest to God _itenary_ for where to go next in the park. Each turning had to get more yays than nays. Tony just shrugged and went with it, arguing with 5 hyper kids versus one adult? Ha, no thanks.

Being out in the fresh air was nice and he liked spending time with all the kids together, even though Peter was missing out tonight. Laura would take pictures for the missing teen. So he ambled along at a slow pace, going where he was directed, if a little awkwardly thanks to Tara. Who found it hilarious and simply held on tighter. He'd worked out that Lilah and Tara were fudging things so Cassie was getting carried more early on, which just made him so impressed with the girls. Usually they had set time limits before swapping out who was on his back.

Meg and Laura were chuckling at the sight of him inundated with kids, he just shrugged and grinned.

"At least this way I'm not chasing after them."

The two women laughed whilst and decided to join them in their wanderings for now until they found a place to kick back and relax, usually after food. After a while Tony was sure he heard stomachs rumbling. It might have been his own, but he suspected the kids might be hungry too. Central Park meant a large variety of food trucks.

"If anyone wants food, I need people with spare hands!"

He shot a look at the two women, who promptly ignored him. Looking away whilst chuckling.

"Har, Coop. Well done. You are now my hands. Now. What food do you lot want?"

Such an innocent question and such chaos came from it, as practically all of them wanted something different from a different van.

"Lily bean, you cannot have doughnuts for dinner."

"But you did on Thursday!"

"Ah, but I'd already eaten actual food first before you came over. _Food_ food before doughnuts."

No, he hadn't had real food.

He had eaten doughnuts for dinner.

Occasionally being the '_responsible adult_' meant lying about your deplorable eating habits. Something he'd discovered these past few months is that kids practically has an eidetic memory for when adults did things they weren't allowed to do.

The glare Lilah had leveled at him was like a mini version of Laura's and he didn't know if he was going to be whacked with a tiny clipboard or shot with her bow when she got home. Shockingly, she nodded. Tony took that as the damned victory it was and didn't complain at all that he had to visit 5 different food vans for the kids alone.

The ladies eventually took pity on him and his stomach and brought food for him as they all squished into a bench. Covering the surface with food. Whilst Tony was tempted to eat a ton, he knew after food, the kids would bolt and the '_get Tony to run, before dog piling him_' game would start. He knew, from experience, that being full for it was not wise. Under the guise of scratching his head he used a few extra nanites to ensure his glasses didn't come of his head by creating a thin band, virtually invisible and hidden by his hair. It should hold, even when Cooper and Harley finish up their plot to jump him from a tree. It was like he forgot his hearing was enhanced.

In the end Harley jumped out of the tree, Tony caught the overgrown teenager and whilst looking up for Cooper he got bowled over from the side. Before he could congratulate their tactics, the girls flung themselves on top apparently under Laura a Meg's direction, Laura was taking pictures whilst Meg had doubled over cackling.

"Oh Tony. This is so going on Twitter."

"Munchkins, any of you want to attack Laura? Or Meg?"

He should have expected the chorus on "NO" from the bunch of wriggly kids really.

All in all it was a successful trip out.

**Tony POV**

_**26th September**_

Tony stretched awake, blinking out of the surprisingly strange, vivid and utterly surreal dream about food and considered that going to bed without eating might not have been the best plan. Not if it meant being chased by waffle venus flytrap... He blinked at the clock and briefly wondered why he was awake until the curled up ball on his chest shifted. Ah, he was on school time. Being awake at 6am after actually sleeping was still strange, no matter how many times he did it.

He scooped the bleary, sleepy little girl up and carried her, blankets and all, into the living room where Rhodey and Harley were sitting trying to wake up themselves. Extremis really did give him an unfair advantage when it came to waking up, his brain just booted up and he was awake. He settled Tara down between the pair, mouthing '_nightmare_' at the questioning glance from Rhodey and started on breakfast for everyone, whilst snacking on last nights pasta and drinking his coffee that FRIDAY had prepared.

By the time he had plated up for everyone, his pack of zombies had shambled their way to the table. Tara was grinning that she got to ride with Rhodey on his wheelchair which made him smile. Nightmares are never fun, he knew that damned well, but she was too tiny to have to deal with such things in his mind and it made him slightly grumpy that she had to. He funnelled his frustration into over doing breakfast, not that the kids noticed, they were young, it was early and it was food. Rhodey just raised an eyebrow at him. Tony looked to make sure the kids were occupied and flipped him off before getting his ridiculously huge plate to demolish.

"I'm never going to bed without eating again. I finished 2 portions of pasta whilst cooking and I'm still starved."

"Hmm, yes you don't want to be hungry today."

"Wait, what's today?"

"Your brain is basically a supercomputer. Why don't you install a calendar?"

"Because then Pep would expect me to attend all the boring parties she sends me."

"Hmm, well it's just the press conference today."

"Fu…. Dge."

"Fudge. Really?"

Harley just gave him a look before he and Tara went chuckling to their rooms to get ready for school. He lowered his voice, running his hand over his face.

"Fuck. How could I forget this?"

"I think your brain loses 80% efficiency when you don't eat."

"Speaking off, are you going to finish that baco- OW."

"Yes."

"Did you really have to stab my hand with your fork!?"

"Around you when your hungry. Yes. Go help the kids, you've got until 12 and then we're leaving. Your workshops are locked down and FRIDAY will alert me if you get lost working in your head."

Tony finished the rest of his food, sticking his tongue out at Rhodey and grabbing a packet of pop tarts, scoffing them cold and headed to Tara's room. She had everything carefully planned out in the mornings and liked deviation as much as she liked wearing matching socks.

….

Tony glanced around the rather cramped limo. Because getting 2 would be silly, apparently, which was why Sharon was sat in his lap digging her spikey elbows into his stomach. Strange had taken one look inside the limo, scoffed and opened a portal. Before anyone could ask to join him he'd vanished. Stephy could be a right dick sometimes, but considering that he'd been about to suit up and fly, he couldn't say anything. That was partially why Sharon was in his lap, so he wouldn't hurl himself out of the limo window or something. Laura was also driving and he doubted she'd be impressed if he did that.

"Shaylo, are your elbows literally made of vibranium?"

That just got him another jab and a grin from Jess. Jess and Sharon, after initially clashing, now seemed to get on like a terrifying house on fire. Like Pepper and Laura, he wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing. When all four got together with Hope, he found a reason to be _very_ busy as they usually dragged him into their schemes.

They made an interesting mix in the car he had to admit, those who had costumes were wearing them. It was originally just going to be Matt all dolled up as his identity was still under wraps, but they realised that it looked a bit weird that way. Tony looked like he was in one of his usual Tom Ford suits, but he was trying out using the nanites for it, replicating a suit in his wardrobe out of them, the suit was deep red, the shirt black and a gold tie, so pretty close to the armour. His sunglasses were blue mirror frames that seemed to flash a lighter blue when the sun hits them just right. Peter thought the effect was cool.

Plus, if something went wrong, it was faster for the suit to cover him this way, wearing the armour on stage would be much too clunky. Whilst the Ironman suit was graceful in the skies, it wasn't as much walking around a stage. The other difference was his glasses. Whilst they just looked like the wrap around glasses he'd taken to wearing, they were entirely fashioned out of the nantes to duplicate the HUD of his suit. Instead of just the lenses like the ones he'd trialled at the park. They'd worked well enough that he felt confident using the full design today.

It wasn't perfect, it wasn't like when he had the helmet on and couldn't See any of peoples colours. But it was the closest he could get. People were muted slightly. It was surprisingly disorientating. Like someone had just hacked off one of his senses. He didn't like how much he'd gotten used to the _weird_ but at the same time it meant he was adapting to his new abilities.

Whilst they were shaded and mirrored on the outside, for him it was just like looking through clear glasses, they didn't inhibit his enhanced eyesight either, just the colours. It had taken a lot of trial and error to get that right. He was working on improving them further, possibly with capabilities of the Ironman helmet too, combined with his enhanced vision it would be amazing when he was finished.

Nat was also in the car, Nat who had **no idea** what had changed with him, so people were just... not mentioning it.

Just shooting him "_Are you going to be okay?_" looks every so often, even muted he could see their concern shining through. He was at least 84% sure he wouldn't pass out. 65% sure that he wouldn't be sick if the glasses held. Good odds really. The only reporters invited had been ones Tony had had the chance to surreptitiously look at the last few days. That had upped the odds when he was calculating probabilities.

That he'd found ways to _surreptitiously observe_ said reporters sounded creepy, but handy. It had required them being invited to the compound for various articles, it had been awkward to arrange and if it had just been him, he doubted that he'd have managed it, but Tony really didn't want any surprises on that front and with Carol agreeing, everyone had gotten on board.

After he'd gotten home from the Accords Council, when everything had rushed back and he'd ended up unconscious for an hour, in that hour Carol had been plotting for today's press conference, and pretty much ever since. Whilst the delay was nice, as passing out on T'Challa would have _royally_ sucked. It still wasn't great and he didn't even know why the delay happened, as such, replicating such a delay was tricky. So a hoard of fired up reporters he had to look at vs bored politicians spread over a huge room? Yeah, this was as good of a test as he could think of before he started being out more often. Maybe the glasses were cheating.

When they arrived he fired off a text to Shuri that all was going well, she was very interested in the press conference, especially after the dramatic way the rogues had taken to the Accords Session. He hadn't watched it himself yet, even though he'd had access to the video for several days now. He was still gearing up to it. He might watch it with Laura who was the only other adult who knew where the Rogues were.

Shuri just sent back a string of cat emojis. The kids half communicated in emojis and he and Rhodey had spent literally hours trying to decipher them. Not that they let on to that fact however.

Sharon got everyone lined up to walk on stage, she'd fallen into the roll of running heard on everyone as quickly as Laura had on him. Between the 2 of them, they were **doomed**.

Doomed to efficiency.

He walked out onto the stage, grinning at the press, Laura hanging of the the side to direct the team and Sharon going to the side with the mic at the podium so she could direct questions. Laura had an attached mic so she could do the same.

"Well, I've not done one of these in a while. So, I figured the first one should have me introducing you all to the New Avengers!

"Now, I know you've seen some of them out and about, fighting fires, chasing tornadoes, catching villains and generally pitching in where needed as well as the odd problems above and beyond what can be expected of the authorities to handle. But I figured it was past time for a better introduction.

"Also, Mr Lane, I know you were told I won't be answering questions from my last Accord meeting."

He raised an eyebrow, focused on the balding man who had the grace to look sheepish. The Accords part was a hit in the dark, but he got the sense the man was happy to mess up this conference and one of the main things they'd been told was that he and Laura had spoken enough at the Accords, that this was about the Avengers only, a few other reporters chuckled at one of their own being called out. As if they wouldn't have jumped on that in a second.

"So, first I'd like to introduce those who have not noticed, I found myself with a new PA, that over there is the amazing Laura Morgan. Between her and the charming Sharon Carter over there, who will be choosing who gets to talk, along with Laura, who by the way, _is also my cousin_, together they keep everything running smoothly!"

He stage whispered the '_is also my cousin_' part. Knowing the fact he was alluding to a living family member would get some people worked up, but he wanted to show off his awesome cousin. He'd worried Shay might be unhappy with him for it, but she was smiling brightly, her colours sparking bright enough even with his glasses at how pleased she was. It gave him a surge to go on, grinning slightly madly at the crowd.

"Now, I'm going to start inviting people on stage! Let's start with the co-leaders of the Avengers shall we? Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, the reason why the Avengers were born, and my brother in everything that matters, James Rhodes, also known as Warmachine."

Laura directed them whilst Rhodey skidded on stage at speed, he was becoming very nimble in the chair, and very fast. Carol jogged after him, smiling and waving good naturedly at the press and cameras.

"Next we have Vision who I'm sure some of you might recognise."

Vision had gone behind the stage so he could phase and float through, after discovering he had a fan following, he'd become quite dramatic. Tony just rolled his eyes behind his glasses. Like he could talk. At least he wasn't jumping out of a plane.

"Next, fabulously dressed, well, at least the cloak, is Dr Stephen Strange, some of you might recognise him, but now he's The Sorcerer Supreme and represents our new magical department."

Stephen walked onto the stage, side stepping Laura's directions to smack the back of Tony's head, probably for talking the cloak up as much as him, before making his way to his seat. The cloak was fluttering happily and waved at the press as he went. Tony just grinned, it was always amusing to wind up Stephy, plus, his new wizard clothes were quite weird.

"Now, as a few of you might know, Stark Industries has recently partnered up with Pym tech, and one other company I'll get to later. Much to people's shock. Just to remind anyone, I'm not Howard and the delightful Hope Van Dyne definitely isn't her father. Aren't we all grateful for that! She is also known as the Wasp!"

A few reporters were chuckling at that, he and Hope had dealt with their father's animosity for far too long, people just assumed they felt the same way. He didn't get why people just assumed that and it was fun proving them wrong, plus after Scott ran off with the suit, Pym tech took a huge hit and likely wouldn't have survived if Hope hadn't taken over combined with their partnership with Danny.

Hope also ignored Laura directions and Tony could tell someone was going to be swatted by her clipboard at this rate. He suspected it might be him. Hope all but skipped over to him and patted his head where Stephy had thwacked him. Gave him a kiss on the cheek before moving to her seat. Laura was smiling and rolling her eyes at their antics.

"Now the next group is one that has been around before but has recently become affiliated with the Avengers, The Defenders with Hells Kitchens own Daredevil, Jessica, Luke and Danny Also known as Iron Fist. The other rich white boy and the 3rd in the partnership with SI and Pym Tech."

Tony grins as the four of them come on stage, Danny looks like he's about the vere off but Laura just raises her clip board and he ducks his head, speeding up as they take their seats he smiles, waiting until they're all sat before continuing on. Cameras flashing like crazy, he knew the Defenders and the Avengers teaming up would be a good move that would impress many people.

"Also, we welcome back Black Widow who is currently on probation, but will be joining us as soon as she is able."

Nat looked thoroughly uncomfortable to him, even though she looked her normal self outwardly, he'd gotten really good at her tells lately. Plus his little unfair advantage. He gave her a little wave which she returned with a lightning fast smile. Which for Nat was quite huge.

She wasn't best pleased with this originally, but Tony had pointed out that after going public after the purge, hiding her away would be more detrimental than good, saying she's here and trying to make amends would be better for her and the Avengers. They couldn't have a member they hid away like they had with Wanda. Just pretending everything was fine, it had lead to huge problems and actual protests, not that Rogers even noticed the reason he'd had her on house arrest. As for Nat, after he got permission for her to come she hadn't said much about it, although he could See that she was happy and shocked to be included with them even as her instincts and training screamed at her to hide in the shadows.

"Yup, that's everyone, I'm going to go sit down to now before that clipboard gets aimed in _MY_ direction."

Laura shot him and indulgent smile as he sat in between Rhodey and Carol. Damn it felt good not to be doing this alone, he hoped that as time goes on they can spread the press duties, Carol and Hope being obvious choices. Rhodey too now he had more free time away from the airforce. Danny needed some help before they dropped him in it.

Sharon and Laura went back and forth picking people out to answer questions.

"How did everyone meet?"

"Oh I've know Tony since we were kids. Before our dad's fell out we were put together often and went to the same boarding school."

Tony grinned at Hope, she had made boarding school tolerable as it has been so _boring _, hanging around for him even after he was pushed forward. They were both up several years originally before his father had him accelerated, so neither of them felt _in place_. Teenagers, as a rule, don't like hanging out with kids in school. Or being shown up in class by them.

"Yup, I remember meeting her, I was waking up from a nap, she was looming over me and asked to play with my hair. Which would have been nicer if she hadn't already started."

"You loved it!"

"There was glitter everywhere for weeks!"

Shay took another question directed at him, he wasn't sure why people were interested in how he'd met everyone but he'd given up trying to understand the press and their need to know every minutiae of his life long ago.

"Who else have you known before putting together the new team?"

"I met Stephy back in our 20s?"

Tony was shocked and impressed that Stephy was willing to talk instead of just nodding. He had expected glaring and glowering and other impressive facial expressions designed to make people stop asking him questions.

"Yes, we came across each other at a Maria Stark foundation gala."

"You made the evening much more entertaining."

Oh he really did, he'd been so bored and had noticed when he'd been introduced to Stephen, that he was bored too. Which had made him _instantly_ interesting. The fact that he _didn't_ want to talk to him and actively _avoided_ him at first? That was hilarious. Very few people did that to him. Over many galas he eventually wore the man down and they'd quickly discovered they were quite alike. Stephy had serious problems with boredom back then and he'd eventually learned that Tony Stark is many things, but boring is not one of them. Rhodes jumped in next, gesturing at himself and Carol.

"I met these two at MIT"

"Tony was 14 and had just drank 4 cans of Red Bull, Rhodes was 17, looking haggard and trying to keep the Red Bull from him. They looked entertaining so I just sat down at their table."

Tony just full on grins remembering that, it was a little _fuzzy_ as he'd consumed a lot of caffeine as Howard had sped up his school work and demanded he keep up the side projects he set. He'd fallen behind one week, which had called for the caffeine. Poor Rhodey had been utterly struck by a huge crush that he'd _relentlessly_ mocked the man with.

"It was strange because most people generally _avoided_ the 14 year old in college."

"The young black kid caused a _stir_ too."

"You **both** did. It's why I sat with you."

Tony smiled, Carol had been kind of like a mom to him back then. He didn't talk to her as much as he did Rhodey, not about his home life anyway, he couldn't really avoid Rhodey on the subject, seeing as they shared a room. He saw him more and Tony had to let his guard down occasionally, and Rhodey was _insistent_ about it, but he could protect Carol from dealing with Howard and his disapproval with _anyone_ Tony spoke too. Plus, he didn't like dumping his baggage on people, even at 14. Although from how Carol was usually in a bad mood just after Howard came around he'd always wondered if she'd worked out some things, or Rhodey passed on the information. She never said anything to him though, so he'd ignored it. She'd grumbled a few times about the sanity of sending a 14 year old to college without supervision through.

They'd lost touch when she was off _gallivanting_ around the universe, but they'd fallen into old patterns surprisingly easily.

After that, the questions shifted to the Defenders for a bit and he let himself zone out a little, trusting the others to keep things going and letting him take breaks in his mind. Then Carol tapped his leg, indicating he was being called on and he returned focus as they'd planned.

"After the picture of you surfaced from the hospital and your subsequent time in seclusion, would you say all this is worth it?"

"Of course. I always knew I could end up injured. The suit stops a lot but I'm still quite _squishy_. It has always been a possibility and it's **never** stopped me before now, has it?"

That's got him a few chuckles and hopefully the end of that. Hope had at least 4 questions about how much her father hated Stark, Him and Howard. Tony was just trying not to laugh and Hope verbally eviscerated that reporter into silence for the rest of the display.

"Captain Marvel, Are you open to working with Captain America?"

Carol's face shuttered into unimpressed also as fast as Tony's shut down, he slipped his media smile on but leaned back in his chair, leaving this to Carol. He was surprised it had taken this _long_ for Captain Spandex to come up. Anything he would say would likely look petty and be used against them, so he was staying schtum.

"Frankly? As of right now? No. I don't think he would be a good fit for our _current_ dynamic. Plus he's an **international fugitive**. Apart from that _little_ fact, if he was willing to put the time in, get up to date with the Accords, do the requisite training and therapy, then things could be reassessed at a later date. Getting into the Avengers is more ordered now."

"Now we have a system with several stages to assess competency, ability, skills, **and** team cohesion. You can't just bring someone home and decide they're Avenger. And when you're in, there is a lot of work and ongoing assessments, not just of abilities of physical and mental health. _Bullying_ for example, would not be permitted _anymore_. "

Rhodes added onto Carol's speech, Tony's jaw hangs open slightly, before clicking shut and he offered a smile at his friends. They'd worked on the new system together, a lot based on ideas that Wilson had put forward and he hadn't realised how much Rhodey had put in to ensure what happened to him never happened to anyone else. The way he'd said it at the camera to made him feel like he was talking specifically at the old team too. Rhodes had not so subtly said the old team had bullied other team members on live TV, he managed to keep the hysterical laugh that wanted out down because he wasn't sure if that had really happened or was he dreaming. That definitely hadn't been part of the plan!

Thankfully Sharon got another person to ask a question before people could think to much about what Rhodes had said.

"What about the rest of the rogues?"

"Well, they're currently preoccupied being international fugitives, but if things change, if they fully sign and support the Accords, then their membership can be assessed. A lot has changed since the clique like ways of the Avengers. Now everything is official."

Carol was smiling as she spoke, very even but at the same time she made it clear that no one would be exempt. He had undergone several assessments already, with his new abilities Carol wanted them assessed separately and together, so he had more than most but as he was still on medical leave with an unstable ability, they were pretty spread out and he wasn't being rushed into the field. He missed it, but he was more concerned about the damage he could do accidentally than his desire to help. Thankfully their team was solid, with enhanced individuals that could pick up his slack.

"So much paperwork."

Tony rolled his eyes behind his glasses and sighed dramatically, but he was still smiling when Carol playfully shoved him. Paperwork, whilst annoying, was something he understood well, it was annoying, but when it protected everyone, it was worth it.

"Even so, things are much improved. In how we work and support for the Avengers back home and in the field. Ensuring _everyone_ in the team is supported is _extremely_ important to me."

Carol was speaking directly into the camera with that and he couldn't help but smile and think she was defending him over the way the others had treated him.

"This is to everyone? How is the team getting along?"

"It's been quite a good way to understand humans more being around such a _varied_ group who help each other, for even very simple things as well as the big. It's fascinating."

Visions fanboy club cheered as they had anytime Vision answered a question. Everyone piled on, talking about movie nights and that even Carols training drills were fun.

"They're almost turning me social."

At Stephens first comment, a few brave reporters zeroed in on him but had been too nervous to continue after a glance at his face, now he'd basically set out the welcome mat and it was extremely hard to keep his face straight as Stephy noticed his mistake.

"Ah, Mr Sorcerer Supreme, Is your cloak waving?"

Stephy glanced back, causing the cloak to duck back from his glare. He turned to the reporter in question.

"Yes."

He didn't elaborate and looked like he was daring the reporter to ask a follow up question.

Several of the Avengers however just lost it, giggling whilst trying not to be obvious and Stephens withering glare at them just made it worse. Tony couldn't help chuckling too, and waving at the cloak. He and Levi were pals, which gave him an idea. He just couldn't help himself from calling Levi over with with a crook of his fingers, smiling brightly when the cloak bounded over to him and gave him a quick hug, settling about his shoulders. It gave him a boost when he hadn't realised he was flagging. He had expected Stephy to call Levi back, but perked up when he just rolled his eyes again. Which was permission as far as he was concerned, practically encouragement.

The reporters seemed to enjoy seeing half the avengers crack up laughing, watching his and the cloaks antics apparently went down very well. He could tell from the colours he could see that they were putting them at ease. That maybe they'd gone from scary supers no one knew to a bunch of nice people willing to put themselves out there to help. That was his goal anyway.

It also prompted a few of the more nervous reporters to come forward. After listening to a few more questions from the Defenders Tony was starting to feel a bit nauseated, the cloak giving him a squeeze was possibly the only reason he was still sat up after a while. He managed to answer a few questions about funding the Avengers, mainly that it wasn't all him anymore. A few reporters were shocked that he had been funding the Avengers alone for so long.

"What if the rogues come back and call themselves Avengers?"

Laura glanced at him after she took the question, she'd been monitoring him from the beginning, she had an uncanny knack for knowing how he felt. No matter how many others were fooled by his press smile. Seeing that he was nearing his time limit for being around so many people in close quarters, he figured she'd be wrapping them up soon. He was about to suck it up and answer, but Laura answered instead. Which he was pretty happy about, he wanted to answer that about as much as anything about Roger's. Any answer he gave would be treated differently than literally the same answer from someone else.

"They can't. Not legally anyway. Dr Stark holds the licence and the civil organisation that works underneath it, along with The GUARD. Anyone else would be claiming it _illegally_."

For some reason that made a few people in the crowd angry, their annoyance practically exploded into Tony's senses and like a crack in a dam, everything followed through after it. The press were in a fairly small area, all pushed as close to the front as possible, ignoring the chairs that would have neatly spread them out. Thankfully Carol had given him her hand and he was holding on for dear life. He actually had to close his eyes because of how bright everything suddenly was.

Sharon and Laura took a few more questions before they decided that enough information had been passed out, they'd skillfully avoided taking questions from the ones who had frowned or seemed angered at Laura's proclamation.

People had gotten a sense of who the new players were, an idea of how they worked together as a team and with as minimal questions about the rogues as humanly possible. Carol and Jess linked up arms with Tony, and the others also grouped up, making it look normal when really they were closing ranks around him. Protecting him from anyone who might still be watching or recording. He was now only peripherally aware of what was actually happening, but Carol had informed him what they would do should his ability overwhelm him. He wasn't even sure if he was still _walking_ or if Levi had him covered and made it _look_ like he was walking, he couldn't even remember the last few questions but Carol told him he'd kept his press face on.

When he was near the car he thought he saw a confused tilt of the head from Nat, flashing gold circles, then everything went black.

…

Tony came too later on, and everything was still black. Well that wasn't good, he raised his hand to his eyes and found a… sleeping mask? Before he had a chance to take it off Carol's hand and voice stopped him.

"Tony, there are still a lot of us in here, we wanted to make sure you were okay. We figured you might want to know before you took that off."

He nodded, that made sense. The nausea was gone, thankfully, as was the splitting migraine, but his mouth felt foggy. Extremis had cleared the pain from his mind thankfully. He checked the cameras to see who was in the room and Stephy was here. He was like 3 confusing people rolled into one, but he'd been increasing his tolerance. Just being around Stephy more had helped when dealing with strangers.

"Stephy, think you can, I don't know, stand behind me till I get used to this lot, then have your weirdness join in and see if I stay conscious."

The sounds of a chuckle followed the sound of him moving behind him, he did however flip him off, Tony responded in kind, and in the correct direction as Stephy whilst he was moving behind him, grinning at the slight look of confusion on the man's face before Stephy frowned at the cameras.

"Such a cheater."

"Well, I could have just ripped it off and thrown up on your shoes Stephanie. I thought this was better."

"Quite."

Tony pulled his mask of and got kind of punched by concern.

"Wow. Guys. I'm fine, see!"

Shay's fingers slipped into his hair, scratching his scalp slightly.

"Oh yes. Fine. Why are you covering your eyes oh fine one?"

Tony slowly moved his hand this time and handled the concern a little better this time and eventually Stephen could join without him getting woozy.

"Did the glasses not work cuz?"

"They did until we said something that pissed off four of the reporters. Four Captain Spangles fans from what I could tell. Its like they made a crack in my defences and everything swarmed in, who has the glasses?"

Jess handed them over to him, he held them in his hand, analysing any changes in the nanites but for all anyone could see, he was just glaring at them in his hand.

"You going to glare them to submission?"

Tony glanced at Jess having finished what he was doing.

"Nope, checking for faults, still as perfect as when I left so it was me somehow that malfunctioned."

Tony close his hand on the glasses, resetting them back to their nanite form, silver dust collapsing and turning into a little swirling storm. Tony sent them back to the hive and then vanished up his sleeve when Shay piped up.

"Okay, that was weird."

"Huh? "

He wasn't up for feeling eloquent yet.

"Your glasses just became shiny dust, that turned into a swirly thing and poofed up your sleeve. That was _weird_."

"Sure we've seen weirder, and they're my nanites."

"Mmhhm, You can give your cousin a run down on your teeny bug robots later, now eat this and rest, you have an hour until the children get home."

"Yes Agent Mom."

Laura just nodded and patted him on the head after putting a tray on his lap and what looked like homemade tomato soup, crusty bread and cheese, he decided to take the brief respite and pampering before he had a hundred and six things to do again.

**Bruce POV**

_**27th September**_

_**Hue**_

Bruce dropped what was left of his bag down as he stretched his back out, instead of detouring to one of the dead drops Tony had left for him. The closest dead drop site was near this property anyway. So he'd simply sold some of his things to get to this city, where Tony had set up one of the small, discrete properties. His feet were _killing_ but he'd made pretty good time.

When it came to the properties, and the dead drops, he'd tried to say no to them at first, but Tony had told him that he had safe houses all over, that adding a few more was actually helpful for _him_ and plus he'd already done it. '_Here's a map_.' Then he'd just waved it off as if it had been nothing. Considering he'd been in India at the time, it had been hard to argue with the genius.

Then he'd gotten mugged a few weeks after the map turned up, he'd only just narrowly avoided hulking out and was left raw and disoriented with practically nothing. The muggers had left the map, it was coded and was not understandable to many people, Bruce had shared a lab with Tony long enough to pick up on the man's shorthand. Unlike most people's shorthand, Tony's was practically a unique language. They also hadn't found the communication device he kept hidden on him at all times just incase he was mugged. So he found himself in a safe house, having ran for something comforting in his distressed state without really realising what he was doing. He had been suddenly so thankful for Tony's thoughtfulness. Tony had also been so happy when he'd told him where he was, since then he had used several of the houses as he moved around the globe.

They'd also been very useful in between the steps of his journey. Each had plenty of dried food, electricity(no matter where they were), and enough money to last him a good while if he felt comfortable using it. So far he'd just taken minimal amounts when he really needed it. He had a feeling this time he'd be taking more to go and buy a plane ticket from the airport. He'd been avoiding messaging Tony after his reply came in when he camped at an old lady's house for a few days.

Tony was avoiding telling him anything and was a little too excitable proclaiming that he was fine, so something serious must have happened. Tony had, in all likelihood, not wanted to _worry_ him. Knowing Tony he would hide it because he'd worry that he was manipulating him to return. Bruce had noticed how Tony thoughts would often move towards the worst assumption of himself whilst being oddly confident, it was such a weird mix that it had taken him time to be able to read properly.

He walked up to the unassuming property that looked identical to everything around it, it didn't stand out at all, same peeling paint and everything. He slipped his key in and still was amused when it opened. Tony had explained to him that they key only worked when he was holding it, for every property on the map. Which was handy or he'd have hundreds of keys.

Closing the door behind him he did a quick check of everything in the house, the smaller properties didn't come installed with FRIDAY so he was alone, only the much, much larger ones did and he had only stayed at one in Italy once because it had been closest to where he needed to go. That and he hadn't realised what the star meant at that point, from a guess he'd say they were Tony's _original_ safe houses.

He probably could have gotten here sooner if he'd pushed, but he honestly needed to calm down. In the end Hulk have given him the push to stop dawdling, as he was stressing himself coming up with worse and worse ideas for what had happened in his absence. Whilst the communication device could connect to Tony virtually everywhere, it didn't have the Internet on it, so he only had the single link Rhodes had sent to him to ponder on.

He started making himself something to eat whilst he showered, changed and set up the laptop that was always under the sofa. He sat himself down with some tea, feet kicked up and decided it was time to find out what he had missed.

The first thing he did was Google Tony, which probably hadn't been the best idea. Pictures from a very recent press conference assured him that Tony looked alright, healthy even. He watched the video and decided these new people did seem good for Tony, they were all smiling and joking with each other. Seeing Colonel Rhodes in a wheelchair was a major _shock_. There were practically none of the team he knew. Nat was on probation?! Tony's face shut down but he saw his jaw clench when Steve was mentioned. Also International fugitives? The Accords?

As the press conference went on Tony switched purely to his press smile and Hulk yelled that something was wrong. He had to watch it 5 times before he really saw the difference in Tony from the start and the end. How the 2 women closed ranks around him and then everyone protected him with an ease that he was sure it had been planned. He likely wouldn't have noticed without Hulks intuition and that he knew the engineer quite well.

He tried to find this coma picture and any information, there was very little real information about it however. Lots of speculation and a single statement from SI that Tony had been injured in the Civil War. That and the brief mention at the press conference was it. No details of his injuries, not that he suspected Tony to put his X-Rays online.

What was mentioned a few times when he tried to find out about his injuries was this Civil war. What the hell? Dammit he knew going off grid meant he missed things, but this was excessive even for him. He decided to find these Accords first, as people were claiming they triggered this Civil War. Searching for the Accords brought up another video of Tony and… Laura Barton again oddly. Not Pepper. They were speaking at an Accords Council. Whatever that is, he set the video playing on one half of his screen and started reading up on the Vienna Accords.

He didn't get very far however when he realised what Tony was talking about. He sat, dumbfounded. Mouth open in shock as Tony spoke. Tony had always said he'd go after Ross some day. Bruce had tried to convince him not to. He was too dangerous. Even to Tony. But the blanching faces of people looking at their tablets and the palpable fear of the people when Tony said he'd put the information online. He was tempted to think he could do it, could he take Ross down?

Some website had attached a video of Ross being dragged out of his hotel room by multiple tac teams to the video of Tony and Laura. That was something he and the Hulk watched about 12 times.

After that he decided he needed to look properly, find out what happened and in order, none of this jumping all over without understanding what was happening. So he went back to Ultron and was horrified to find that in his absence, Tony had taken the full blame, and even more surprisingly, that none of the others featured in the reparation efforts. He didn't expect Wanda to take any blame, but he'd thought Rogers might make her do something to make up for what she did. Or even that she'd want to help her own home.

He eventually made it to the Accords and Ross' involvement, trying to use it to control supers. Tony being forced to work with him. Yeah, he imagined that was the straw that broke the camel's back. No wonder he took the slime ball down, especially with going after the Barton's. God, poor Clint.

There was practically no mention of any of them after a horrifying fight he watched at an airport featuring people he didn't even recognise again. The sight of the Witch had his stomach churning and Hulk growling. Anything after that was all speculation, the Internet splitting into camps with vicious debates cropping up between them.

There were quite a few websites about Wanda, apparently there had been some brutal protests about her before the Civil War. Even with Steves protection and pushing Tony into practically erasing what had happened in Johannesburg, all it had done was create conspiracy stories. Something Tony had had warned Steve about. These had been spurred on by the fact people had noticed Tony was always as far away from Wanda as possible. Including going out of the country on several business trips. This had angered lots of people by the looks of it, they felt like America was losing Ironman because of someone who was living in the country without a Green Card. He knew Tony had refused to handle PR for Wanda before he left and was happy his friend had stuck to his word. In his absence however, no one took up the position.

It had created a perfect little storm about the witch and he couldn't say he felt bad about it at all. All the Internet had was clips of her wielding her red magic, people dying, no explanations about her as Tony never mentioned her once during a single press conference. In each instance it didn't stand out much, but people online compiled different conferences and statements and noticed the oddity. Steve likely didn't notice the negative affect as he never paid attention to Tony's press releases.

He still felt awful that he had left Tony to deal with her alone, he had known there was something more going on between the two of them but he'd been so wrapped up in his own horrifying nightmares and flashbacks from what she had done to him. That he just ran. That Tony had eventually been forced to face off her again after living with her for so long? He didn't know where he got the strength to do it. Even now, he didn't know if he could go up against her and he was much more stable than he'd ever been.

It looked like after they broke out of the illegal jail, none of them had been heard of since, except Natasha, who had handed herself in to Tony. That shocked him, her willing tying herself to _one place_? Very odd. He had expected her to follow Steve over Tony. He thought that's what she had done after the Airport, he wondered what changed her mind.

He knew there was lots missing, and the Internet was full of speculation in its absence. He found himself coming back to that picture in the hospital over and over. Tony looked bad, and from the press conference he definitely wasn't perfectly healed. Hulk noticed that he seemed to hold himself differently too, in a better way as if he was in _less_ pain according to the Hulk. Which had been a shock to him because he hadn't known Tony was i_n_ pain.

He eventually found a Tony-Spotting website, which apparently was a website that fans took pictures of him, sent them in and they were featured. Which was rather insane but he never quite understood Tony's fame and the lengths some fans went to. There was a huge gap which had a lot of people alarmed but new pictures had started pouring in recently. Some from the other Avengers Instagram accounts, he wasn't always the main feature, sometimes he was sat in profile in the background.

Some pictures were from the videos he'd watched, people creating stills and cropping it to be just Tony, but there were some outside the Accords meeting too, he'd been seen on the roof next to a very sleek looking quinjet hugging a man Bruce didn't recognise. Which, according to the comments, was King T'Challa.

King?! What on earth has Tony been up to that he's hugging Kings of roofs? Laura was stood near him, looking amused, but he noticed that she had a hand on his arm. Either Laura was somehow dating Tony, which he highly doubted even with the mentions of her being divorced, or she was concerned about him for some reason. Same with the press conference, the theme seemed to be that Tony was _never_ left alone.

The most recent pictures received were actually from before the press conference. There were quite a lot in what looked like Central Park. Tony was wearing those wrap around glasses in every shot again, not a single recent picture he'd seen had him without some glasses.

These pictures were possibly the strangest, people had obviously been trying to take pictures with their phone and not look obvious about it. Some probably didn't care. Tony was with Laura again, but also another woman that he didn't recognise. Tony had 3 little girls all under 10 if he had to hazard a guess. He was smiling, much more than even he'd even seen him smile. There were 2 teenage boys too.

He recognised 2 of the children as Clints kids, but why they were hanging off Tony as if this was a regular occurrence was baffling. Looks like Tony had taken Laura's side in the divorce, which was odd as he'd thought Tony and Clint were good friends. Yet here Tony was, with Laura and no Clint for months.

The group had started in one area and moved for a while as the pictures seemed to improve in quality, which was weird in itself that people were ready at a second notice to charge of to photograph Tony.

The 3 girls eating whilst remaining glued to Tony, who seemed happy with the situation, he had to admit was cute. Tony had always said he'd _hated_ kids, would be awful with them, but he'd suspected that was a lie for years. His sneaking off to kids hospitals, how he handled kids during high stress accidents when they'd been called to assemble. His secret filing cabinet that Bruce had accidentally stumbled on, absolutely full of kids letters. Each marked if they're been replied to or not. There were a lot and nearly all were marked replied too, no matter when he checked. Pepper had also told him about all of the charities Tony helped, some without attaching his name to them. Those were not the actions of a man who '_hated kids_'.

However seeing Tony actually covered in kids was still… _jarring_. The best picture was linked from Laura Barton, no, Morgan's, twitter. Tony on the floor with the teenage boys pinning him to the ground, everyone laughing. The next few pictures had the girls launching at him until he was utterly dog piled.

Tony was grinning like a happy idiot and had his arms wrapped around the kids as much as possible. It was being widely shared, with people amazed that the great **Tony Stark** had traded his women and fast cars for a hoard of children in Central Park. There were some people who could spin anything into a negative way. A few websites were completely convinced that Tony was now collecting wives and getting them pregnant, that all the kids were his children from his years as a playboy.

There was a decent article from Christine Everheart who claimed that this picture told her why Tony got out of that coma to carry on fighting. Why he was fighting to make the Accords protect people, it even included that he hadn't fought being labeled with the non human population which was interesting.

It did sound like something Tony would do though. When he took someone in, he generally took them in for good. He protected them, even after they left him high and dry, himself being the prime example. Bruce imagined that that would be amplified a lot when it came to children.

So that made him come back to his teammates.

Or rather his ex teammates? What had they done for Tony to have left them in the cold? For nearly 3 months! The warrants for their arrest were still current and it didn't look like Tony's pack of lawyers were involved. Nat had been pardoned but there was nothing about the others.

Such an action was counter to Tony's personality.

He was more likely to hurt _himself_ than _leave_ people as international fugitives with no home. So something had happened that wasn't recorded online, something serious, maybe something that had Tony looking terrible in a coma. He can't imagine it being the Airport fight. Tony forgave too easy when it came to Steve.

That reminded him of Tony's clenched jaw when Steve was mentioned at the press conference, he switched to his '_media smile_' any time the rogues were mentioned too. Like he checked out of the conversation completely. He wished he could have seen Tony without the glasses, see his eyes to get a read on him. Tony's eyes had always been expressive, overly so, hence the sunglasses. But since his media black out, anytime someone caught a picture of him, even when that person was effectively spying on Tony. He had these glasses on. The only one he didn't have glasses on was in the hospital, but his eyes were bandaged in that picture.

The glasses were strange too, yeah Tony wore sunglasses a lot, even indoors. But there were lots of pictures of him without them in the past. They were also the wrong type he noticed. Not his usual aviators but these wrap around glasses that apparently stood up to the force of being tackled by 5 children. They must have been designed to stay on. Which was peculiar to say the least.

Hulk was extremely uncomfortable, he'd noticed more differences but wouldn't say much other than '_Tinman changed_'. Which was extremely infuriating as he was obviously seeing more than Bruce.

Looking at Tony smiling under the kids, he felt a pang that he wished he was there, with people rather than alone. He decided that that was it. He was going home, maybe he could get some real answers instead of trying to make sense of the Internet. He went to the safe and practically emptied it, finding a black card in his name hidden under the pile. Rolling his eyes, he'd never seen one before but he had a feeling there were others but because he never used all the money, he never spotted it. That meant he could buy a ticket online however.

He loaded up flights and booked the earliest and fastest one to JFK that would take 24 hours. From there he would make his way to the compound. He felt a thrill go through him when he booked the tickets. He used the rest of the money to buy some necessities in Hue, he found suitcases in the apartment however in various sizes, Tony had left him with a carry on half full of books and journals Tony thought he'd like.

How much Tony had put in for his potential return stunned him. Tony had no idea that he'd be in _this_ place when he decided to go home, so he must have done this in every dingle safe house. That level of care hit him like truck. Hulk seemed unphased, saying '_Of course he did. Its tin man._'

Sometimes he forgot that just because he was the more human looking one out of him and the Hulk, that Hulk was better at reading people and sometimes he was blind almost to the point of destroying his friendships. The first thing he was doing when he got back was thanking Tony for his care setting these up for him. For giving him the means to travel and find himself and taking the blame for something he hadn't done alone. He'd then punch him for taking the blame, because he should not have been held solely at fault, he had not been well at the time. Also for not telling him about this Civil War, and hiding his coma from him.

Bruce had been off gallivanting around the world whilst Tony had been blamed for everything, pushed out of his home, forced to work with Ross and finally forced to fight his friends. And somehow he'd come close to dying, that something about him had _changed_. He suspected there was more too. For that Tony was going to get punched in the arm.

He also decided to keep the messaging device off.

They'd been out of contact for around 2 weeks once so it wouldn't alarm him.

It also meant he could surprise him when he turned up.


	10. Chapter 10 - Written

**Write it Down **

**T'Challa POV**

_**11th September**_

T'Challa had been sitting outside for about an hour now. Trying to focus just on the forest and clear his mind. It had been a few days since he had spoken to Roger's and he'd been actively rejecting all attempts for the stubborn man to make appointments with him. Something made easier as Barnes was relaying information about the rogues to his sister, and to him directly on a few occasions.

Things definitely were not sunshine and desert roses in the villa.

The good Captain keeps looking for his best friend from the 40s and seems to have no qualms letting Barnes know he is upset when he doesn't act correctly. It was as if he was constantly clawing for this perfect, remembered idea of 'Bucky', as if he were trapped in the body of the Winter Soldier, and only he knew the mystical code to free him. It was either causing him to miss the obvious, or he was intentionally ignoring the person Barnes was already blossoming into. It was a great shame, because he _liked_ the person Barnes was coming. The captain was missing out by chasing a ghost.

At first, Barnes had felt terrible about it and started beating himself up. Started to agree with the Captain. Started to let him make his choices for him. Shuri had become alarmed as it came with a drastic drop for Barnes, if it had continued he would have just become a ghost.

Thankfully, his therapist convinced him that it was not his job to appease _anyone_. That he was allowed to finally be himself, a chance to be happy in himself. This had a snap affect that know he was almost leaking anger over it. Occasionally it felt like he was two men, but considering that he was still finding out who he was based on the two people he had been, easy going Buck and the blank slate of The Asset, T'Challa didn't necessarily think this was a bad thing. As much as he seemed to worry about attacking people, everytime he had seen Barnes get angry, he'd had an iron control over himself.

Sighing and rubbing his face, he realised did not know how to deal with the Rogers problem and garner the results he wished with the parameters set. He had idly considered knocking him out and putting him in cryo for a good 10 minutes. The little Witch and the rage filled archer were his guard dogs however. In his opinion, they were rabid ones.

He had the bulk of the story now from Barnes, but a lot of the fight was hazy to the man. Rogers would have remembered better, but he was actively concealing things. Dr Stark would be the best to ask, whether he had been trying to kill either of them as Rogers stated or venting anger as Barnes thought. He also hadn't told his sister how bad the fight was, although he had to admit she likely had a good idea about that. Given her suspicion about the man's hand at least. He hadn't told her what sparked the fight and hated that **he** was also now wrapped up in this viper pit of lies.

How do you tell your kid sister that a man she admires had his parents killed?

By the other man she was caring for?

That answer being that **you don't**, because he's a damned coward.

Both of the men were suffering from that day in 1991 and that day in Siberia and he wanted to do something. To help them. But he didn't know where to even start.

He had to talk to Rogers again however. He couldn't let the man think he had gotten away with his dangerous little lie, as one lie could lead to many and he didn't have the time nor want to dedicate himself to the rogues and deciphering their truth from lies. He was a new king, something they seemed to forget, often annoyed that he wasn't always on call for their myriad of complaints. He really needed to ask Dr Stark how he dealt with them over the years.

He'd run into roadblocks online of getting to discover things about the team, mainly that Dr Stark was the only real one to have a media presence. In all the years, unless it was fighting, the others just didn't make themselves known. The best media presence the captain had was showreels from the 40s! Oh and a hilarious series of short films that were apparently meant for teenagers in school that he immediately sent to Shuri.

He'd been impressed with the Avengers in the past, caught up in the hype, before they started racking up property damage and deaths that had concerned his father. The apparent disregard for borders had been a screeching red flag for them. A man wearing the American flag, practically screeching Western values feeling as if land borders and a countries sovereign rights were mere roadblocks to be bypassed with little thought.

But they were **heroes** and **heroes** were **good people**.

He should have known that they would be flawed like every other human, but the hero status tricked you into forgetting that. A little digging into the past and asking some other councillors, he found that until the Civil War, they actually had permission to cross borders and it had been managed by Dr Stark. After the split, that stopped. He wondered if the others even realised Dr Stark had been clearing the way? That they would need to take up that job? Or was it a pointless irritation that stopped them achieving the greater good _with his own hands_?

Meeting them he'd also discovered that some of them had very grating personalities and that they ignore many '_little details_' that didn't concern them.

Some of them were actually quite nice and polite.

They just seemed to _clash_ and he had to wonder if anything other than their superhero abilities was considered before the team was formed? He knew a bit about creating teams and he knew that even the best planned teams can still crash and burn when put together. That's when you try to work on the issues, find out if it is something simple or a full blown clash of ideologies that cannot be resolved. Any resolution must also be _equal_, forcing one to give more than the other? _That'd just solving today's problem by creating tomorrows. _

There comes a point when you have to admit the team is simply not working, especially if forcing it is detrimental to certain members and the team should be split. True when the Avengers first came together, the superhero gig was slim pickings. Now however there was enough to create more than one functional team with ease. So why had the captain plowed on ahead with the current volatile team?

Maybe he was being too critical of the man because he was angry at him?

Either way, this wasn't the topic he would be broaching with the man. He wanted to find out what he'd taken these few days to come up with.

Another **lie**?

Or the **truth**?

**Sam POV**

Sam was not having a great time.

He hadn't been having a great time for _quite a while_ now, but then going from Avenger to international fugitive whilst hiding out in Wakanda, he's pretty sure that he was allowed to be off of his game.

Everything had been so simple at first.

General Ross had compromised Stark.

He had wondered about the man, showing blatant, almost screaming signs of PTSD one minute when he didn't realise he was being observed, and then as soon as he realised he wasn't alone, a mask slid across his face and he was _fine_. The ease of which he did that had concerned him more than anything else. That was a conditioned response and masking to that level was exhausting.

But he just didn't know what to _do_ with this information.

He wasn't Stark's counsellor. Clint had told him enough about the man that he didn't find much in common with him. Stark was a nerd, he was a jock. Stark had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the perfect childhood, never hurt or wanted for anything. Never hungry, never to worry about where his food comes from. Likely breezed through school with a gaggle of people despite his nerd status. He then turned into a reckless, arrogant, pleasure seeking, drug addict, alcoholic playboy, with no consideration for anyone but himself.

They were _fundamentally opposed. _

Somethings didn't track now he had nothing but time to think.

Stark could hide pain to a frankly _terrifying_ degree. He'd broken his wrist on a mission once and just shrugged and said he would wait for the others to be checked out first, denying pain medication, he'd sat there chatting with Rhodes as if nothing had happened. Even getting him to stay in medical had been a chore, only with Rhodes staying did he remain.

If he hadn't literally seen the scan FRIDAY had shown the doctor, he wouldn't have _known_ he was injured. Hiding pain, physical as well as psychological, to that degree was a response he learned from somewhere, and that had lights flashing in his mind.

That was another thing.

_Rhodes_.

Stark had been friends with Rhodes for _decades_.

Sam was sure of precisely how long, but the pair acted as brothers that had been stood by each other forever.

He had bonded with the other pilot from their love of flying and the man was down to earth, hardworking and an all around, amazing guy. Not what he'd suspect to be friends with what the media and team depicted Stark as.

After Ultron, the team had been sharp to him, angry. _Understandably_.

They'd told him that the man's reckless arrogance had not only nearly killed them all, but killed many people and if they hadn't stopped it? Would have killed countless people in a cold, merciless fashion.

So he would admit to not putting much effort into getting to know the guy. He wasn't around much anyway, seemed to prefer to keep to the sidelines in his flash suits and expensive cars. He snarled and looked bored in team meetings. Although there were instances he'd see Stark's face when Wanda used her magic freely around him. Before that mask slipped on, it was fear, but he had convinced himself he was seeing things. The little cracks in the masks.

He'd asked around a bit, about Stark and Wanda, but heard about how Stark was responsible for killing Wanda's parents! So he'd stopped digging, _again_. It hadn't felt like much back then, but sitting alone in a room in Wakanda, letting his mind playback events and now, a different picture was coming together in his mind. No matter how much he _fought_ it.

Everything with Ross felt like it had snuck up on him, he could see Stark was deteriorating but then he suddenly up and left, he went to spend time with Rhodes so he'd pushed it aside. Steve hadn't been happy, he felt like Stark had been shirking his responsibilities at the time, it had resulted in the few meetings between the pair becoming sharper. Their almost friendly quips became barbs. Their arguments became rage matches that exploded with no reconciliation. More than once it was Stark against the team, Rhodes stood over his shoulder with absolute rage set into his features.

He could never understand how Rhodey was always to Stark's right. Why he was there to protect him. Protect him from _what_?

Then Ross came along and he was left wondering if Ross was using the team break down to manipulate the man? Steve wouldn't let a friend be used like that but he hadn't dug then either, not when he found out from Clint that Stark had held Wanda captive, for no reason!

There had been _so many_ circumstances where he'd let his discomfort go, hadn't asked, hadn't dug. At the time it had made sense. He wondered now, that if he _had_, would he be an international fugitive now? Now he was sat, **stationery** and all these little things were stacking up in his mind and wouldn't _leave him be._

He almost _longed_ for the simplicity before T'Challa had asked his damned questions.

After Steve and Bucky had come back bloody, he'd thought it was the Winter Soldiers. Steve hadn't wanted to discuss it, utterly focused on his friend. Which, fair enough, that was understandable. It was only _after_ he'd gone into cryo when Steve had finally told them all Stark had tried to _kill_ Bucky. Then when Steve intervened, he had gone after him too! Not to arrest, to stone cold murder them. Steve had left him temporarily disabled so they could escape and then rescue them from the raft. It was simple.

So for all the potential lingering guilt in his mind, for all those lost occasions with Stark where he'd sat back… the anger was more prevailing.

The others had told him Stark was the reason they got put in the Raft, not Ross. That he'd left them in that hell hole he probably helped build if Wanda was correct. She could read minds right? So it made _sense_ to trust her.

The kicker was that **he'd** been the one to tell Stark about Siberia, he directed him, and that guilt, it _ate_ at him.

That **he'd** been _indirectly_ responsible for his best friend getting battered bloody and Bucky losing his arm! So since then he'd been raging at Stark.

If Ross was manipulating him? He probably deserved it.

Wanda had told him that people referred to the man as the **Merchant of Death.**

That he was heartless and cared about no one, which was why he was so flippant and joked about everything.

He just wanted to be angry at someone and Stark was **easy**.

He'd been fine with that really.

Then T'Challa went and messed things up. Asking Steve what happened in Siberia, with _rage_ in his eyes. He didn't know what had caused this, every time he'd seen the king he had been easy going. No one had questioned Steve's story about Siberia because why would they? Something had _changed_. Something had made T'Challa _doubt_ what Steve said.

At first he'd just thought it was simple miscommunication, but then he'd said that Stark was in contact with his kid sister. Which was odd enough in itself. He'd not seen Shuri much but she had been rather abrasive and blatant about her unhappiness of having them in her country. Which again, fair enough really.

Hosting international fugitives when your country was only just going global? Yeah, he got why she was mad.

Knowing she was friendly with Stark was just... peculiar, because she seemed like a good kid (when she wasn't mad at them). Brilliant, smart and very caring… Another person that did not line up with the Stark he had been told about. Someone like the Stark he'd been told about wouldn't be in touch with kids, surely? Why would he?

_**'He left me to die, then he took them in'**_

So much dread attached to such a small sentence.

Steve had visibly paled. His body language was just all _wrong_, he _flinched_ when T'Challa had mentioned him lying. Why?

Could he ignore this? Could this be another odd thing that didn't seem right that he pushed away?

He was considering this whilst staring at the laptop they'd been given, it hadn't gotten much use, everyone content to ignore the world because they didn't want to see themselves as fugitives. Maybe they needed to start looking now.

They'd been sticking their heads in the sands and something had just kicked them up the arse.

So he finally dove in. He searched for _anything_ _recent_ about Stark and came up with… surprisingly little.

After the Civil War he just.. Vanished from the media, very strange for Stark who was stalked by paps and fans when he just went for a coffee. But there was absolutely nothing, meaning that since that fight and now, he'd not been outside. Or he'd somehow avoided pretty much all people. He'd seen the man get spotted in seconds before, so this was peculiar. Plus, he didn't really try to hide, that was his life.

He found several articles about stuff he'd been doing however. But like that TV show, he wasn't _visible_. Statements he'd written were read out by others. He'd been extremely active in the Accords Council but it was all by proxy and Rhodes.

There were articles claiming he was going above and beyond for working so hard, on multiple projects, for other people, in multiple fields… from his deathbed! That panicked him slightly and he discovered two things. One he found an older article with a picture that was shared enough times he didn't want to think about. Stark, looking absolutely awful, unconscious, his face an abject mess of bruises, his eyes even had those eye bandages taped to his face. He had been in a coma for around 2 weeks it seems, and he really did look awful. He couldn't imagine doing the amount of work he'd read in that condition.

T'Challa was right, that was not the look of a man '_temporarily disabled_'.

Something that he noticed, that the others seemed to forget about Stark often, even him, but looking at this picture he was faced by the harsh reality. He was a baseline human, over 40 years old, with physical ailments from his many trials.

True, he didn't know much about what had birthed Ironman, but Widow had once told him he'd been held captive in Afghanistan, terrorists torturing him into building bombs. The most baffling was she'd told him, that Stark had apparently woken up whilst being operated on and then again with a car battery attached to his chest. He didn't know what to believe though as the Widow being a notorious spy, could have embellished details. Surely surgery and something like _that_.. He would have suspected Stark would have died of infection at the very least if that was true. If his body could even pull through that given the abuse it had undergone. Then to create the Ironman armour with no machines?

Either way, Stark was a baseline human, fighting amongst gods and superhuman, and powered people, just like him. He knew that they occasionally forgot their strengths in training, in a fight? He imagined that would be worse.

Speaking of the Widow. That was the second thing he discovered that was _not_ going to go down well with the group. Clint and Steve were still waiting for her to come back after all. She'd turned up not long after they'd arrived, then not long after Bucky went into Cryo, the day after Steve had told them about Siberia, she said she was heading out. Steve and Clint had been against it, too risky. She'd pointed out that she could evade authorities better than anyone and would use her spy network to get them valuable information. She had them convinced and headed out. Looking at the date on this article of her trail after turning herself into Stark… She hadn't wasted much time. There was a lag of several days but that could be travel time.

Stark had been _instrumental_ in her not ending up in prison apparently. He spoke passionately, via proxy again, and supplied extensive evidence with an army of extremely expensive Lawyers, and had gotten her off with several months on house arrest at the compound. Which was frankly _amazing_, she'd thanked him profusely for this chance and sworn to not waste it, she'd even spoken to the press afterwards and it had all been about Stark too. How she'd seen him a few days after he'd woken up from his coma, and he'd already been hard at work trying to make people safe. It was the most heartfelt and earnest thing he'd seen her come up with. All about how she'd work to earn his forgiveness.

After that, she'd had quite the online presence, being on house arrest, that was understandable. She had been involved in press dealings in the compound too. Actual pictures of her. She looked happy and like she was doing great.

He hated her for that.

Even her smiling face on Instagram eating a cake that apparently "Tony & The Kids" made her. What kids?!

This was a mess, but he hated her because **he** was the one to find this out first.

So **he** was going to have to tell everyone else.

He sighed and closed down some windows, leaving Stark's coma article from July and Nats article about her trail. He minimised her Instagram, he didn't want to show them that, but he figured he'd _need_ to, otherwise they'd think she'd need rescuing. _Ugh, none of this made sense! _Thinking that would do, he carried the laptop out of his bedroom and into the common room. Dragging his feet considerably. Wondering why it was him who had to do this.

Steve and Clint were sat at a table, nibbling on some early lunch foods he couldn't recognise but knew he liked at least some of. However his stomach was lead right now. Scott was also at the table but had his chair tilted back on two legs like a teenager and he would perpetually be, looking through pictures he'd already taken on the little camera T'Challa had gifted him. Ignoring the looks Clint was shooting at him. _Oh joy_.

Wanda was nowhere to be seen. He was honestly a little relieved about that, she got very _worked up_ when Stark got mentioned, and this was going to be hard enough as it was.

Bucky was sat in the corner of the room, his hair done in possibly the most complicated design he'd ever seen, but he had to admit he looked damned good and wondered who exactly was doing his hair?He had been very insistent that he did not like being touched. Likely not helped that Steve kept ignoring that fact, and Bucky warnings about it, yet he kept touching him and getting into his personal space.

The reaction had varied from terrified panic and full blown panic attacks that he'd actually had to intervene in, or a cold, furious rage that had made Sam's blood run cold, his senses prickling like they had when the Winter Soldier had destroyed his poor baby like tearing paper.

He didn't know what Bucky we had today, but he obviously had the look of someone with a '_keep away_' sign, but he was sitting in the common room with them. That was a huge improvement. Steve however kept shooting him pleading glances that Bucky was ignoring with a clenched jaw. So not going too well, but nothing was broken, so he was taking it as a win.

He squinted to read what Bucky was reading but was stymied when he realised it was in Cyrillic. It looked like fiction however.

"Hi guys, Bucky, What are you reading?"

At Steve's twitches he realised he'd guessed right. The pleading looks and sad puppy dog eyes today was because Bucky was reading something that wasn't in English. Steve had developed an abject hatred of Russian since Bucky had been around, which he thought was counterproductive really. Bucky obviously liked it, his occasional slips were fine, he usually told you what he'd meant in English right after if you asked. It wasn't much different to Nat's occasional Russian, and he'd grown quite attached to that whilst the 3 of them had been hunting for Bucky. So he actually liked it, but Steve wanted a united front.

Steve had outright yelled at him about it, twice now, saying he needed to forget about it and stop using it to '_get better_'. No matter how many times he tried to explain to Steve that you don't just get better overnight from mental illnesses. But he was still running on information from the 40s, no matter how much he tried to educate the man. Sometimes it felt like Steve had given up on today and only wanted to live in the past. Which Sam just didn't understand, sure, somethings might have been better if you squinted, and things were complicated now, but it was a good complicated. Especially with mental health.

Since that second argument, he wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he was convinced that Bucky was using it more, plus this openly reading in the common room was new. He noted that Bucky twitched slightly and wondered why, he'd been noticing that these last few days too and was starting to wonder if it was in regards to his name.

He also wondered why everyone else was apparently blind. Sure he had training they didn't, but surely some of it was obvious?

"Okrashennyy Chelovek.. Ah.. The Painted Man, it's a very interesting book. Have you seen the Library here? It's Udivitel'no.. Amazing."

He had to admit he was quite blown away by the smiling, passionate about reading Bucky Barnes! And maybe he should stick to calling him just Barnes? Also we had the slipping into Russian-Barnes today. He wasn't entirely sure if it was accidental when he was distracted or excited, or if he was now doing it to piss Steve off. Maybe both? Maybe he just wasn't holding it back now? This however was a side he'd never seen of the man, he decided to make a point of speaking to him more away from the group and getting to find out more than a dark, brooding angry cloud he put out there.

" That sounds great, you can maybe tell me about it later? I've not read anything in a while, could be fun?"

Barnes lit up like a damned Christmas tree. He looked like a hyper, eager puppy at the idea of someone reading the same book as him and he decided he'd read the book even if he hated it now, there was little choice. The man was trying to rediscover himself as a human being, the least he could do was read a weird sounding book.

"That would be great, I'll pick you up a copy in English, da?"

"Awesome, I look forward to it.. But for now Steve, Clint.. I have… not great news?"

"Oh what now? T'Challa coming to interrogate Cap again?"

"No, but after that I got to thinking, I know why we are avoiding the news, but we're leaving ourselves vulnerable by not having information. So I did some digging into the past few months."

"That's great Sam, good initiative. Did you find anything useful? Like when we're able to go home?"

"Ah Wilson you teachers pet."

Clint these days was just angry at everything. He _tried_ to talk to the man but honestly he'd lost patience. Making him stop sniping at T'Challa for God's sake had burnt up the dregs of his compassion for the man, but he was trying to stay cordial.

"Well, I found out something about Stark and where Nats been."

He sat the laptop down, even Barnes crowded around as he brought up the article with Stark first, Nats… he didn't want to bring up Nat at all really. Barnes took one look before immediately bolting from the room. Leaving Sam frowning after him. Wondering why Stark in a coma would do that, he was the victim in that fight, came home missing a limb and was attacked for no reason. Maybe it was just the memory of the fight itself? He'd noticed that Barnes felt a lot of guilt over his actions under Hydra and was against the idea of hurting anyone, so maybe that was why. Steve had paled when he'd seen Stark too, which was curious in itself but his attention was all for Barnes' retreating form.

"Sam! You shouldn't have just dumped that in front of him, you know how sensitive Bucky is!"

"How was I supposed to know seeing the guy who beat on him for no reason in a coma would set him off?"

Sam snapped back, immediately feeling guilty but he was not doing great himself and being snapped at and getting the patented '_I'm disappointed_' glare from Captain America was not something he was interested in today.

Especially not when evidence was mounting that he had lied to them.

They were meant to be _family_, Steve was meant to _trust_ and be _honest_ with them. It didn't help that he actually was feeling bad about sending Barnes running.

"OK, we looked at the poor little Stark likely getting top of the line medical care, probably sipping champagne with Ross when he woke up. Who. Cares. Can we get to the interesting news now?"

"Yeah, Clint is right, what did you find about Nat? She's okay right, not been captured?"

Sam frowned at the two of them but pushed the feeling down, he'd question that later when things were less tense, maybe . He doubted they believed those things about Stark really, they were just blowing off steam? He switched the articles over to bring up the ones about Nat.

"No, she wasn't captured. Barely days after she left us she apparently handed herself into Stark and surrendered."

"_**What?!**_"

"Huh."

Clint and Steve practically screamed '_**What**_' at him, making him step back a little. Scott was the only one paying attention and reading the article.

"Says here that she threw herself at Stark's Mercy. He worked night and day to build her defence and his lawyers backed her up too. Nat said she'd take whatever punishment was coming to her as long as she could make up for what she had done and her betrayal."

"My Nat wouldn't say that. This is wrong, she must have been captured, we have to save her Steve."

Sam jumped in before Steve could react to **THAT**. _Yikes_.

"She's fine! She got a few months house arrest at the compound where she's on probation. By June next year she'll be completely pardoned and she's joining the Avengers. Look, she has an Instagram and everything."

"Looks like Stark's '_impassioned speech_' at her trial moved a lot of people… Huh. That cake looks nice, she looks fine Clint. Don't think I've ever seen her smile like that."

Sam grimaced as Clint was seething more and more as Scott spoke. Seemingly not noticing the pure rage vibrating from the archer.

Steve was just stunned sat staring at the picture of Nat sitting in the compound, barely recognisable to them now. The overall shape of the common area was still kind of there, but it looked like it had been massively extended. The kitchen was nearly twice the size and drastically redecorated. It looked much more cozy than it had before. There were only a few people in the background and it was slightly blurry, taken as a selfie by Nat. Celebration for her pardon being finalised it seemed. Only one woman was half turned that could be seen properly and it looked like she was cutting cake for someone else..

"Is that.. No. It can't be. I.. I think that Hope? What.. Why is she at the compound? Hank hates Stark?"

"Who cares, my friend is being held against her will, who knows what Stark is doing to her!"

Yeah. Not touching that.

Sam glanced at the caption again, seeing the woman Scott pointed at was linked and clicking her name, bringing up another page that they found see had several pictures from the compound in. Some that weren't even remotely recognisable. He decided to just ignore Clint for now. Because that was a bad road just waiting for them to be dragged down and he was still suffering from the last one he'd been dragged down.

He loaded up the first picture of potentially Hope? Sitting on a sofa with 2 other women and 2 teenage boys were sat at their feet playing a video game. He was sure he recognised one of the women but couldn't pinpoint it. It was very homey.. And cosey. Everyone was smiling.

" Is that Hope?"

"Yeah.. Oh my god yeah. That's Hope. She's at the comp-"

He was cut off by the strangled sound coming from Clint.

"That's my wife!"

Sam blinked and looked at the two women again. One looked like she was about to punch the camera but had a small smile on her face an arm slung around each of the other women, pulling them in for the picture. Nat was leaning in, grinning even though he'd never known her to be so tactile before.

Now he really looked, he recognised Laura. Her hair was just above shoulder length now and was styled much differently than what she had seen before. The underneath of her hair was also dyed dark blue. He didn't know much about women's haircuts, but it looked expensive, as did her clothes. She was wearing a tailored suit and looked like she'd finished a day of work, a few buttons undone, her heels were next to her feet. She, like the other women, looked happy, leaning into the other woman, grinning widely. He looked at the two teens but neither reminded him of Cooper, the tags read Nat, Jess, Laura, Harley and Peter. He had no idea who most of these people were.

"Oh god. Stark has Nat and my wife. This.. This is bad. Steve, we have to go now and get them and bring them back here."

"Mr Barton I would advise against that. If you try to attack the compound, you will be arrested. Also, if you leave Wakanda, you will not be allowed back in."

"Your Majesty, this is his wife's safety we are talking about here."

Sam backed up and sat down at the table, T'Challa, who had snuck up on them, _again_, calmly entered the room and sat next to him, opposite Steve, Clint and Scott. He had a bad feeling about this.

"He should be thought about that before becoming an international fugitive. The rules are simple you stay here, you stay quiet, you keep your heads down, you don't leave Wakanda or contact people online which could draw people's att_ ention _to us. Do all this and you don't go to jail. If any single one of you endanger my country in anyway? I will hand **_all_** of you to the authorities in a heartbeat."

Clint looks like he's going to argue more but Steve face turns to panic and stops him. He doubted that T'Challa would really hand Barnes over to the authorities like that, but considering that he didn't want them running half cocked either, he wasn't going to say anything.

"Clint, we can't do anything now, but as soon as we can... Until then, you can see her here right? "

Clint snarls, snatches the laptop and stomps out of the room. Leaving Scott looking deeply upset.

"I don't think he's going to bring the group laptop back is he?"

"I'll have a tablet sent up for you and Mr Wilson so you can view your friends and families. Like the laptop, you can see anything online, but you won't be able to post or contact anyone with it. It's entirely one way except if you are contacting someone in Wakanda. Something I suspect Mr Barton has forgotten but will find out as he tries to break a rule I just informed him off to try and contact his wife."

"I don't think your being very fair to us on this."

"Steve, come on. He's doing us a huge favour here. The very least we can do is not put his country and people at risk. They _have_ to be his first priority."

Sam had told Steve this about this a hundred times already, maybe a hundred and one will get it through. Steve however squares his shoulders, straightens his back, his jaw jutting out. A veritable picture of defiance and Sam sighs internally. Even Scott seems to be edging away from his idol. Luckily, T'Challa derails whatever determined speech Steve was preparing to come out with.

"Anyway. That is not why I am here."

"Oh, by the way, Thank you, your majesty, this camera is awesome and I've taken so many pictures, I'm travelling each day to a new area, one of the Dora, Onyeka took pity on me getting lost and is showing me something new each day to take pictures of as long as I send her the best ones. Although without the laptop I don't know if I can do that now?"

"You are very welcome Scott and you can connect it to the tablet, I'm sure she'll show you how. Send them to me too? It will be interesting to see Wakanda from a different perspective."

Sam thanked the Gods for _Scott_.

Which was the weirdest thing he'd ever thought.

He seemed to have a way of turning conversations.. good, harmless with his goofy ways, even when people were on the edges of their seats with violence. Bu-Barnes, had told him that Scott reminded him of a labrador and had promptly sent him 79 (yes, he counted) pictures of various labradors. Followed by enough memes to make him consider his sanity and he'd passed the laptop to Clint to make it stop. He frowned, realising that he was still logged on, he'd have to check to make sure Clint went on to his own profile. He was jerked out of his head when Steve interrupted the calm, innocuous conversation Scott and the King were having about sunrises vs sunsets.

Steve sounded agitated and nervous, he was also fidgeting slightly which was weird and highly unlike him. Although Sam was learning more about his teammate and best friend in this villa, in Wakanda, than he had back home. Probably because the smaller space and lack of amenities that they'd grown used to.

Sure the villa was gorgeous and their bedrooms were all master suites with king size beds they each had a toilet/shower attached. There were two huge bathrooms with a bath that any of them could use the kitchen was decently sized with a breakfast bar big enough for all of them. The common room had a few things to keep them busy as well as a larger dining room table. Food was delicious and delivered so they didn't always need to cook.. Frankly, it was amazing and he had to keep reminding himself of that, and the size of his apartment before he became an Avenger. He'd realised he'd fallen into the same trap as some of the others on arrival and found the place.. Lacking, compared to home. It was Scott's reaction that had snapped him out of it before he'd said something stupid. Thankfully.

"What was it that brought you here today then?"

"That would be you Mr Rogers. If you remember after speaking to Sergeant Barnes, I said I would give you some time. I have, I now would love to know what actually happened in Siberia."

He had this utterly surreal feeling that Steve had just found himself dragged to the headmasters office and he and Scott had been dragged in as unwitting accomplices.

If T'Challa gave him detention, this was definitely a dream.

Without Clint and Wanda to yell in Steve's defence, the room was oddly.. _silent_. Scott looked distinctly uncomfortable, he had told Sam that he just didn't know any of them enough to argue this after last time. He was torn and upset when he spoke to Sam. Steve, Captain America had been his idol, the man he risked his family to follow, the man he told his daughter about, the man he emulated to be a hero for his kid. Having him lie to T'Challa? Someone Scott really liked? That had shaken him.

Well he was shaken as well to be honest. He was wondering how Stark had ended up in that hospital bed. A coma was a severe injury. He was still angry at him for what he did, and didn't like him, but something just felt... _off_ about the whole situation. There was more to it that he didn't know.

"I can't believe you **ambushed** and **interrogated** Bucky out of cryo for this! He was probably confused and didn't remember properly. I already told you what happened, so if he said anything else it was probably the shock of his injury or confusion from cryo. We all know how unreliable his memories are."

Scott looked slightly nauseated and Sam was just thankful Barnes wasn't in the room right now at Steve glanced at them to confirm his statement. Because he would not have taken _THAT_ well. _That_ would have resulted in an argument for sure.

"I've already gone over this _multiple times._ Me and Bucky arrived, he was happy and joking with me talking, he was just Bucky. Tony arrived and he tricked us into thinking there was a truce. When he discovered the Winter Soldiers were dead, he said he was following Ross' orders that Sharon had told me about, that there was a shoot to kill order on Bucky, already! I tried to talk to Tony. To convince him what he was doing was wrong. But he just refused to listen to me, he then just attacked Bucky before I could convince him otherwise. He was trying to kill him, so I had to get involved. I eventually got him down, _after_ he'd already blasted Bucky's arm off. I temporarily disabled the suit. Picked up Bucky and we escaped, shortly after you picked us up. I'm sure not even 10 minutes later Tony was flying home safe and sound."

Sam frowned at Steve, that was more detailed than what he'd told them before. It was also subtly different.

" Steve… that's uh.. That's not what you told us before. "

Scott shook his head at Steve, T'Challa seemed unphased. Relaxing back in his chair with a curious look on his face as he kept eye contact with Steve. Steve shot us both an angry look.

"Well then, you must be remembering wrong. I was there so I know what happened. Stark is probably lying to get sympathy so he can manipulate resources out of you T'Challa. I'm sorry for that, sometimes he focuses too much on business and doesn't notice the people who he i-"

"I'm going to stop you right there. When I gave you these days to think. It wasn't for you to think up a more detailed lie. It wa-"

" I'm not ly-"

"Please. Be silent. You have said your piece and now you will listen to mine. This time was for you to think about what you could be risking by lying. The safety of your friends for example. To think about who you are meant to be, which I thought was a decent, honest person.

"Turns out you are a liar."

He and Scott had turned to T'Challa now, concerned about what was going to happen next. Had Steve just risked all their safety?

"For now, I will just tell them what I know of what happened in Siberia."

Steve pales and leans forward.

"Please, your majesty, please, he doesn't des-"

"And what does Dr Stark deserve hm? For you to keep painting him as a Demon '_bad guy_', decry him as the devil himself? The source of _all_ your problems?"

"But Bu -"

"Shut up Steve. You swore you wouldn't lie again! Pizdobol fucking liar.

Barnes enters the room, he checks he face to see which version we have now.. He's standing so much taller than usual, it always baffles Sam that he can go from making himself appear small and vulnerable, or overly excited… to this, such strong presence where he acts like he owns the room. Contained violence that could be let go in a heartbeat. He doesn't need weapons on him to look ready to kill because he really is a weapon. His blue gray eyes look closer to gray, to steel when he's like this and he is looking straight at Steve, who is giving Barnes his full on puppy dog eyes with a touch of desperation.

"Buck, you don't hav-"

"Stop lying for me! I don't want you to. It doesn't change what I did!"

"Buck, it wasn't you!"

"My body. My hands! I had to wash the blood of the Starks off my hands. I might not have been in control, but it still happened BY MY HANDS!"

He practically roared the last part, Scott looked slightly terrified, Steve just was still pleading with him and Sam had no idea what was happening. T'Challa looked.. Like he'd expected this? He wondered if the king had drawn out the conversation until he'd know Barnes had been outside? No, couldn't be. That was too much to chance. Wait, Starks? Plural?

"Steve, _what_ is going on here?"

Steve snapped his attention to him, blinking as if he'd forgotten that they were even in the room.

"Sam… I.. I was protecting Bucky.. Stark did try to kill him, he did and it wasn't Bucky's fault!"

"Steve. Just.. Blyat Fucking no punk, Balvan, Thick headed fool. The man had just discovered his parents' death wasn't an accident. He'd just discovered they were murdered.."

'_Oh shit, this is not good_' Sam thought in his head. Feeling supremely uncomfortable with this situation. Yeah, it didn't let him off the hook for attacking them.. But if he'd just seen.. '_wait.. His hands_? _Oh_ _god_.' Scott seemed to click at the same time as Sam. Scott's eyes going wide and staring at Barnes and Steve switching between them like a terrifying tennis match, Sam carried on looking at Barnes who seemed in so much pain..

"It wasn't you Buck! Stark, he shouldn't have attacked you! It wasn't you!"

"Chush' sobach'yaBullshit, He'd just watched a video of both of his parents being murdered, stood next to the goddamned killer! And stop saying that, it doesn't help! My hands Steve, he watched me throttle his mother to death!"

Steve doesn't try this time, he just looks torn, T'Challa has stood to stand next to Barnes and Sam feels like his head is splitting. This.. This changes so mu-

" And what was worse Steve? He turns to you. His friend. And asks did you know… and what did you do?"

"Please Buck.. Stop.. I was protecting you."

"Well now they know, so A huy li why the fuck not?, so you aren't protecting me now. Your protecting yourself, so you don't have to admit you Naveshat' pizdyley beat the crap out of a grieving man."

"He was trying to kill you!"

"He asked you if you knew! And you lied, again! Pizdobol Fucking liar) you said 'I didn't know it was him' But you did Steve… You've known since DC."

"Steve…all that time we were searching for him… all that time you were using Starks money and resources.. You'd been lying to the man that housed and fed us? That did every little thing you asked? Oh man.. This. This is so fucked up. What else did you lie about? "

"I didn't lie.. I just omitted things. I did it for Tony."

"You let us believe Stark randomly attacked Barnes for no reason.. For Stark? I felt responsible for sending him to you, I thought I'd nearly gotten you killed!"

"No! I was protecting him from finding out his parents had been murdered!"

" I.. I can't believe this. I believed in you. Hank told me to never trust a Stark so it was easy to follow you against him.. But.. That's on me. At least I can admit when I fucked up. "

Scott grabbed his camera and made a hasty retreat, smiling at Barnes on the way and muttering something that Sam couldn't hear. Whatever it was, some of the tension bled out of Barnes shoulders. Before he snapped back, face blank and looked so much like the Winter Soldier that Sam wondered if Barnes was even there now. When he started talking, it sounded more like mission debrief, the speech just seemed different to him, more dry, sarcastic and like he was impressed? But like it was automated. Which was weird, maybe he was just reading into it too much, his brain was sort of careening right now.

"He hit Steve first. Before he came at me. Multiple times in the fight he had openings he 'missed'. He did more damage to the bunker than me.

"Tony Stark - Threat Level Alpha*. Do not approach. Do not attack. Mission failure acceptable when an Alpha* becomes involved. Only attempt capture if adequate containment facilities are on hand and access to a chair.

"The man is a walking tank and he hit you _open handed._ If he wanted us _dead_. We would be _dead_. Instead you disabled his power source and abandoned the man in a metal coffin in the Siberian spring, when you **knew** that no one knew his location. Hilariously, a thing he did for **your** safety. _Then you lied to us about it._"

The last part was practically hissed in anger, a contrast to his laugh when talking about Stark being a tank, the Winter Soldiers laugh, because this just didn't feel like Barnes anymore. His laugh was harsh, mocking to Steve who flinched back from him. He wondered how Barnes could still put himself in this mind set, was it like concentrating when you sent to battle and out emotions aside? Was it unintentional? This wasn't the blank slate that he'd seen before though. No, he had a strange smile on his face but his eyes were _angry_. His hand opening and closing, he honestly looked like he'd been _wanting_ to do this for awhile, but Barnes had generally held off from hurting Steve when they had clashed lately. Looking back, he can see the fine line they'd been walking. Sometimes giving in more than he should just to make sure Steve wasn't hurt.

Now? He was going for the jugular with a ruthless precision.

"I wonder how long he laid there Stevie. On that concrete floor. Inches from the snow. In a suit you broke. I wonder how much pressure it takes for a vibranium shield to crack the power source of an Ironman suit. I wonder what that would do to a baseline humans rib cage hmm? "

Somehow the man managed to make speaking in English harsher than his Russian slips..

" Buck-"

"I am not Bucky! I haven't been him in a long time. Bucky Barnes died long before he fell from that train. Before Zola, he was fracturing at Azzano. It started with the draft.."

T'Challa looked a little pale himself now and got up to whisper something to him, Barn.. Or well, Not-Barnes. Swayed on his feet and blinked rapidly a few times, looking like he was coming out of water. He nodded to T'Challa who slowly put his hand on his shoulder. He grabbed it like a lifeline, breathing rapidly. No one dared moved for a good five, ten minutes. Sam was just processing everything that had been said because that was a lot of serious, life changing information to have thrown at you at once. Steve was equally pale.

"Uh.. Sorry I.. Therapist said I could have panic attacks and disassociate and umm. Yeah, I'm going to go see her now I think."

"Want me to walk with you Barnes?"

He nodded rapidly a few times, still clutching the Kings hand like if he let go something terrible should happen.

"Da uzh, yeah T'Challa that would be great, Spasibo Thank you."

"Of course. Mr Rogers, you will find yourself confined to the Villa until I say otherwise. The Dora Milaje already know, so do not try and sneak past them. If you leave the building without permission you will be relocated to one you _cannot leave_. If you feel like there is a reason important enough for you to be allowed out _temporarily_, inform the Dora who will inform me. I will get back to you within 72 hours whether permission is granted or _not_. "

Well they didn't get detention, but Steve did just get grounded.

"Be grateful I am not ejecting you from Wakanda. To leave an ally behind, with knowledge they're suffering and to be without aide.. This is seen as a highly offensive crime in Wakanda. I am paying my penance whilst you have been slandering your victim. I'm sure you will use your time to think upon your actions."

T'Challa spoke to Steve without even glancing over his shoulder, Steve didn't react or try to cry out in defence of himself this time. He and Steve just sat in silence as they heard the two men leave. The front door slamming shut caused Steve to fill on body flinch.

"Sam.."

"What the fuck Steve. Why did you lie to me? You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"Sam.. I.. I don't know when this all spun out of control, I just wanted to save Bucky."

"And fuck the rest of us right?"

"No Sam! I was trying to protect everyone from the Accords and then I tried to protect Bucky because he feels so guilty over what Hydra forced him to do even though it wasn't his fault so he shouldn't feel guilty. Stark was wrong to attack him."

"Steve, I know he didn't have a choice. Barnes knows that, and I'm sure if Stark was told in a better situation, he would understand too."

"I couldn't take that risk that he'd try to kill him."

_'Or his money drying up'_. Sam thought darkly.

"He proved me right. He only cared about himself and tried to kill him… he-"

"Steve! I might not be Stark's number one fan, but if I just watched my parents murdered and the murderer was standing right infront of me, I'd have flipped too."

"But he wasn't-"

"Oh for fucks sake Steve. You aren't this dense. It wasn't his choice but it was him in a way. In time people could get that, but straight away? After just watching it happen? Of course he's going to be distraught. Steve you have to remember there are other people in the world than you and Barnes"

"I know that!"

"Do you? Because you tried to kill a man who saw you as his best friend. How is that different than him going after Barnes..?"

"Bucky was innocent!"

"I'm sorry Steve.. I.. I can't talk to you right now. I gotta go.."

"Sam.. Wait!"

"Steve. How much of.. All of this was about Barnes? Did you turn us into fugitives for Barnes or the Accords?"

Steve just stands there, silently pleading with him but doesn't say anything. Sam shakes his head and leaves the room. He considered heading to his room, but Steve might follow him to _talk_ and he just can't talk to him right now. He turns instead to the front door. A place Steve can't follow. He headed out, taking a deep breath of the warm air and just felt like his world had just entirely shifted on his axis. Like the blinders had been torn from him. He doesn't know what is up or down anymore. This that had been facts moments ago, Steve Rogers was North to Tony Stark's South. Polar opposites.

**Steve Rogers** was a pinnacle of morality, disciplined, stands up for the little guy, shuns the limelight, does everything for his team, honest, has humility, altruistic, abrasive, and modest.

**Tony Stark** was the depths of immorality, hedonistic, only cares for himself, lives in the limelight, only cares for himself, liar, arrogant, selfish, unkind, and egotistical.

He wasn't so sure anymore. All those little questions he never asked about Stark are just there and won't leave him the fuck alone. How much about both men did he actually know for himself rather than being told by the media or other people? Too much, for both of them. Steve had been throwing Stark under the bus since Siberia to cover up what he did. Thinking back on the comments they'd all be joining in on made him feel sick. How had he let himself become this? He wasn't a bully. Yet that's what he'd been doing. Just not to the man's face.

There wasn't much he could do now, not from here. If he ever got to go home however, he would try to get to know the man beneath the cartoonist devil mask he'd let himself be drawn into. Although he wouldn't be surprised it Stark never gave them another chance. Even before this Civil War things had been bad. He'd just not asked questions he should have. He'd ignored red flags he'd been **trained** to notice.

He'd thought if he ever got home, he only had to make it up to Rhodes. Maybe he could try with Stark? He was starting to wonder if the abrasive, sarcastic personality trait of his was a defense mechanism.. against people like them.

Out of all of them, he had the training to see things, and he had, he'd just ignored them and believed in Captain America, he'd let it blind him.

Now he'd discovered he was a liar of monumental proportions who threw people under the bus to maintain said lies, that anything would go to protect Barnes. He was good at lying too, until T'Challa started laying on the pressure, he wouldn't even have thought he _could_ lie. Which means anything he said was in question now. He'd automatically believed everything he said, because he's Captain fucking America. Now.. Now this was different.

Sighing he decided he'd do what little he could from Wakanda. Stark was putting an insane amount of work into the Accords. So, instead of just deeming them as something straight out of 1984 like Steve said, he'd start reading up on them. He'd follow everything he could get his hands on.

Dammit he'd study the blasted things.

**Barnes POV **

_**12th September**_

He jerked awake, gasping as he fleeting the nightmare slipping through his fingers like sand. At least he assumed it was a nightmare. He tried and grasped for a shred of it and came up with absolutely nothing. Leaving him shivering on his bed, drenched in sweat in the warm, humid atmosphere of Wakanda. Practically shivering from the lack of the dream. Like it had been ripped away. He blinked a few times and started his morning routine. He went to put his hand through his hair and realised that the braids from yesterday were still in, _that's odd_, he always took them out before bed, thinking back to yesterday he realised that large chunks of it were just.. **Gone**.

Sighing, he'd been doing well without losing time as well. He at least guessed he didn't hurt anyone considering he woke up in his bed and not a cell but he'd still check later. He jumped out of bed, making it neatly before dropping to the floor to start his exercises whilst running things over in his mind.

"Bucky, James Buchanan Barnes"

He kept his name just going over and over while he finished his push ups. Maybe this way it would finally feel like it's his again. Bucky still felt foreign to him. Everytime someone called him it he had to bite his tongue to snap. He figured if he kept saying it every morning he could condition that response away, if anything it was making it worse. He shook his head, switching to sit ups.

"107th Infantry Regiment - 32557038"

That was easier, he could recite those all day and he felt like he had at some point. Flashes of memories from after Azzano flooded into his mind. Usually the memories stayed quiet until he looked at them. Now, something had happened. Maybe the nightmare. Because now he felt like he was drowning.

Drowning when you feel your lungs burning knowing that when you open your mouth, and you will, it's going to surge in, force down your throat but at least the pain in your head will stop… An endless amount of time later he blinks up at his ceiling. Not realising he'd lain back until then. Feeling slightly.. detached, looking at his hand like it's someone else's, or something. Just weird. It feels like his senses had been turned down too. He pushed himself into the floor until he could really _feel it_ and then jumped to his feet rapidly. Reaching for the pull up bar at his bedroom door.

"Born 1917… March…Dammit."

He stumbled at the date. He ran the month and date over and over and reached 100 before he got the date. Sighing and feeling like he failed, he ran through the rest of his morning work out in silence. Maybe tomorrow he'd get it. He didn't have his note books here and part of him was thankful for it. He remembered snatches of the notebooks and it made him feel like a crazy person and his therapist told him to not call himself that. He had a nice, longer shower, using the new shampoo and conditioner that Shuri had got for him when he'd mentioned the old one irritated his hypersensitive sense of smell. This bottle has the word nature on it no less than 15 times, which, whilst excessive, at least it smelled good. So now his hair smelled like blueberries and his body wash like freshly sliced apples.

Whilst he might be a weird fruit bowl now, he kind of liked it.

When he got out, he shaved his face again, because of the damned super soldier serum. Especially now he had started to eat semi normally. Most of his diet was still the shakes, it took him a while to adapt to solid food, especially eating the correct amount instead of starvation rations, but he had managed a bit more yesterday, blank spots notwithstanding. Eating the recommended amount of food daily had a knock on effect, his hair was growing, it was now just past his shoulders, he was also shaving daily. He felt stronger and a cursory glance in the mirror even though it hadn't been long, he was putting on a little extra muscle. Whilst he would never be as big as Steve, he definitely was filling out a bit.

The difference recommended nutrition makes over injections of god knows what and those vile blue gel packs that tasted like rancid salt water. Feeling full was a strange feeling and he nearly been sick the first time in Bucharest after a job paid well and he'd bought more food than normal. Enough to be full. He'd avoided doing that again.

He added the hair goop that Shuri had ordered him to put in his hair, which also smelled of blueberries. It made him smile that she remembered that too many scents clashing gave him a headache. His clothes were unscented too for the same reason he assumed. The level of care and detail she put in was staggering sometimes. Getting dressed was harder here than when he'd woken up back in medical, choices, many choices. Until today he'd been grabbing stuff with his eyes closed but it felt like cheating. There were 7 long sleeved tops, 5 t-shirts and 3 shirts. One of the t-shirts caught his eye realising it was dark red. Hm. Maybe he liked dark red?

Usually he'd avoided the t-shirts they were thin and left a lot of flesh visible. But it was hot, so it would feel nice? He shrugged, it was worth a shot. There were less trousers than tops, 3 jeans in different colours, soft trousers that looked tight at the ankle and what he guessed looked like suit trousers. He didn't know much about fashion, give him tac gear and weapons and he'd be in his element. This was strange. Why did he need so many pairs of trousers? He grabbed the black jeans, that's normal, he thinks. At least underwear is easy. No one sees it so it doesn't matter if its the wrong choice.

He amused himself however choosing odd socks. No one will notice and he liked it. It was like intentionally choosing the wrong thing and not getting in trouble for it. His shoes are familiar however, black heavy boots. Although a lot of it seems to be decoration oddly, they're still leather and good quality. He imagined they'd hold up well and decides he likes New Rocks that Shuri ordered as a joke. After he dressed, his hair was still damp but unfortunately that isn't an excuse to avoid '_Team Breakfast'_ as he'd been informed, after missing one. He came to a deal with Steve that he will go to at least 4 team breakfasts a week. The other 3 he'll spend with his friends outside the villa.

He grabs his tablet, not sure where to put it without the hoodie, which would make wearing the t-shirt pointless. Eventually he finds a little red and black canvas bag in the wardrobe. It's flimsy, wouldn't hold up to much but he's only going to breakfast and then to Shuri, so it would do. He slips the tablet in, adds a few of the shakes in his fridge, picking different colours, red, purple, green and yellow one. He hadn't tried the green or yellow ones yet. Orange was vile, so he'd moved all of the orange ones to the communal kitchen. He hoped he could still get these even when he could eat, they're nice. Maybe he could learn to make his own and what goes in them. He also adds his book to the bag and the little present he'd spend 2 hours making Shuri with help from the Internet. He'd put it in a pop tart box he'd liberated from the big kitchen for safety. He does another check to make sure he not forgotten anything. Today being the first day he's using the glasses so maybe he's allowed to be nervous. Leaving his room feels like he's pushing through a physical barrier, but weirdly after the first step it's easy and he all but skips down the stairs.

He enters the kitchen, still smiling and realises something is definitely up here. Steve isn't at the stove, he's sulking at the table pushing his food around his plate, Wanda's plate is empty and she's moved to the sofas with her shoes on the furniture.

He forced down the urge to whack her feet off the sofa. He'd mostly avoided her so far, Steve had been glued to him or he'd made an escape away from all of them. Sam was OK, even when they insulted each other or threw stuff at each other. It was fun but Steve always interfered with them, thinking that he was a delicate daisy or something. Speaking of Wings, weirdly he was making breakfast and Scott was assisting but mostly looking at his tablet. _'Huh, wonder when he got that._' Maybe he wouldn't have to hide his so much if they all had one? Clint was also away from the table, sat in the arm chair, curled possessively around the laptop idly chewing a piece of toast. It was definitely strange, Steve usually made everyone stay at the table until everyone had finished.

'_Don't look a gift horse in the mouth._' Swims up to him, probably from his memories. He assumed it was a saying about not questioning odd yet pleasing circumstances.

He moved silently into the kitchen, Scott saw him, his mouth twitching into a grin and he carried normally. He got as close to Sam as possible, looming over him and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Boo."

He jumped back as Wings shot up in the air, he and Scott doubled over laughing as Sam glared at him.

"Smart plan there Barnes, scaring the man holding hot cookware."

"It's a sign of my faith in you Wings, I know you wouldn't ruin my breakfast."

"Oh, I'm making your breakfast am I? here's me thinking it was mine!"

He did his best puppy dog eyes and dodged a swat from a spatula but was pleased the two men seemed less grim than when he walked in. Steve was giving him a weird look and Wanda was making her way towards them. He wasn't sure if he was imagining but he was sure the pain in his arm got worse around her, his head started pounding too but he forced the pain down. She slid her hand down his arm, making him step out the way, leaning against the counter between Wings and Scott.

"Mmm you look much better not hiding under several layers."

"Um.. Thanks?"

"Steve kept telling me you were a ladies man, I can definitely see it."

She winked at him before grabbing a drink and sauntering off towards Clint. He couldn't suppress the shudder but the concerned looks from Wings and Scott made him feel better. Wings raised a hand but stopped before actually touching him, that was the first time any of them had asked before touching him, not that Wings or Scott really touched him much. Steve, Clint and now apparently Wanda seemed to just not bother asking. He didn't know if it was normal to touch people without permission, but he didn't like it and he didn't _know_ how to make them _stop_. He smiled and nodded to Wings though. If anything to encourage good behavior, but the squeeze to his shoulder made him feel less like his skin was crawling and ease that violated feeling.

"Alright I'm feeling generous, what do you want to try today."

"No idea, in Bucharest there wasn't much but I liked the sausage yesterday."

"Hmm, we are out but I have this weird square sausage stuff that smells good."

He watched intently as Wings sliced the square sausage and added some eggs to the other pan.

"How much you cooking for me Wings? I still can't eat much."

"That's okay, I figure this way you get variety and human garbage disposal over there will finish the rest."

Scott just grinned at him, apparently he liked being called a human rubbish bin? He shrugged and hung out with them, shamelessly using them as shields until food was cooked. The two men seemed to have noticed and followed him to the breakfast bar sandwiching him between them. It felt less suffocating that Steve practically hanging off him.

"Buck, I see you wooing the ladies already!"

Steve's smile seemed off and the idea of wooing Wanda made something inside him retch which was not conducive to eating. He pulled the red drink out of his bag.

"Na, I don't think that's me."

"You going to be off wooing the lads then?"

Steve chokes on whatever he had been eating which makes him jump, he hadn't expected Sam to come out with that either, things were definitely changed in the future that was for sure. Even amongst friends in his memories he'd been wary about discussing that.

"Dunk the squares into the centre of the egg, makes them taste even better."

He gave Scott a genuine 'thank you!' smile, and another when he tried it and oh my gods that was good!

"I like this square sausage more than the other one, and I love eggs. I think I need to start making a list of things I like."

"That's a good idea, stick around when you've finished I have something that could help."

"Sure thing Wings."

"Hey, do I get a nickname?"

"I thought you were human garbage disposal."

Scott chucked a scrunched up ball of paper at him which he immediately deflected with his hand, having it hit Scott in the forehead.

"I call him tic tac, because he gets all tiny."

"What's a tic tac?"

Wings pulls out his tablet, maybe everyone has one now after all, and he shows him a picture of tic tacs.

"Huh, I can see it, I like that Tic Tac… Or puppy. Because your like a floofy happy puppy."

Scott grins at him and eats the last bits of food on his plate when he pushes it over to him. Wings vanishes upstairs for a bit and he realises Steve is just staring at him again. Before he has much of a chance to ask why however Clint and Wanda joint them at the table.

"Fucking Stark man. He has my wife and because of **him** I can't do anything!"

"She's with Hope man, and she looks fine."

"She's not fine you idiots, Clint's wife is being held captive by Stark. Plus, since when did you like Stark?You always said 'Never trust a Stark', wasn't that what Hank taught you?"

"Yeah.. but Hope seems to be friends with Stark now."

He taps a few things on his tablet, angling it so he could see. Seems to be a lot of small pictures with people in.

"This is her Instagram, it's a social media thing, you take pictures and upload them for people to see. This is Hopes."

He loads up a picture and he recognises Tony, although he looks much, much better than when he was in Siberia. Something in him unclenched when he saw the man looking.. Less like the one he saw yesterday. Sure images can be deceiving, but he looks fine. Better than, his skin has an olive tanned glow to and he looks to have more energy than the last time he saw him.

He sucks in a breath as a memory comes back full force and slams into him. Tony Stark wearing a suit and coming up to him when he was in Winter Soldier mode. Somehow the red covering on his hand catches a bullet that he fired at him and then he just dismantled his own gun whilst it was still in his hands as if it was the easiest thing in the world before smirking at him. He comes back and Scott is looking at him in concern, he focuses back on the image before that voice in his mind floated up 'That_ was fun_'. He hated to admit, it kind of was interesting having someone take apart a gun with such ease as to do it to your opponent in a fight.

He forced his concentration back to the tablet. The woman, who he assumed was Hope was being carried Bridal style by Stark. They were both laughing, hopes head thrown back. They definitely looked happy

"They look happy to me."

"Stark is probably coercing them, or manipulating them somehow."

"Or buying them. We all know how he likes to throw his money around."

He glanced over to Steve who was just staring at his food, looking angry. Scott just looked uncomfortable and focused instead on showing him pictures from Hopes social whatsit.

"I bet it's him that's stopping me contacting my wife. I sent her a letter and phone when Steve sent his but the calls won't go through."

"Well if she at the compound maybe she didn't get it?"

Wings comes back in and sits down, feeling the mood shift and trying to get everyone less angry.

"Yeah, maybe send another to the compound if you are allowed. I could send Hope something too.."

"I'm not sure T'Challa wants us sending anything else out."

"Even if I could I bet Stark would stop them getting through."

"He isn't happy just ruining our lives forcing us out of our home, he stole your family members just so you can't contact them. That's what he does. Ruin families. I lost everything to him, he killed my parents and my brother."

"Don't you guys think that's a bit.. Much?"

Clint glares at Wings and he feels like he wants to put himself in between them. He also doesn't know much about Stark, he did look him up a little after T'Challa first asked about Siberia. Looking for some confirmation that he survived the fight and that he didn't cause severe damage. He didn't find much to alleviate that guilt and pain, only finding older things. This was the first picture he'd actually seen of the man post-Siberia and it was very recent.

However he found out enough that the idea of the man intercepting mail seemed absolutely absurd.

He's pretty sure that they aren't even on his radar.

Whilst sick he'd been working on the Accords making advancements in prosthetics, and med tech, whatever that is, that along with intellicrops are on his 'to Google' list. There were several articles about green energy and arc reactors too. He didn't even understand 80% of the things Stark was doing, so intercepting mail? He doubted it.

"I don't think Stark made us all international fugitives."

He scoffed, they'd all gotten themselves into this mess, but they seemed unable to admit fault.

"Yes it is, him and his Accords. Without them I'd be with my family."

"Yeah, he teamed up with General Ross, to force us to do what he wanted. We said no and suddenly we are fugitives and Stark puts us in that terrifying prison where I had to wear a collar! I'm **never** going **back** there!"

"It's okay Wanda, everything will get sorted out soon enough when Stark realises the awful mistake he has made. We'll get pardons and go home."

"And he'll get off scot free! Not getting punished at all for betraying us I bet. Use his slimy lawyers to make sure he never pays any consequences. Like after Ultron, the judge said he was not guilty! He nearly ended the world!"

"We'll think of something Wanda, like after Ultron I gave him limits on what FRIDAY could do and where she would go and told him the only reason he could keep FRIDAY was that she was already alive. But he's not allowed to create anymore AIs. I made sure he knew what he was allowed to do after that. "

" I still say he should have deleted FRIDAY, it would have been a good punishment, not like she's really alive anyway. "

" Yeah, but we voted against that... "

Wings cut in and he realised the man looked very uncomfortable.

He had absolutely no idea what they were even talking about. What was a FRIDAY? Was it a person? Could they delete a person? If they were alive they were casually discussing murder?! He needed to look up AIs he decided.

"If you knew the damage he was capable of Sam, he should have been locked up. Not allowed to create anything other than what we told him to. The world would have been safer that way. Plus Steve, we aren't there now, do you think he's still abiding by your rules?"

"Well he should be, he was deemed not guilty, but negligent, so I decided FRIDAY should be restricted, not as free as JARVIS was. Even if the court didn't accept my suggestions, I made sure Tony knew they were not requests."

He had to get out of this conversation, he was feeling really uncomfortable with the way it had turned, the idea of locking someone in a lab and forcing him to create on demand and have no freedom? Of deleting someone who was alive? Restricting them? Plus, if he'd been found not guilty, that was that, right? Punishing people seen as not guilty seemed extremely weird.

Urgh. He needed to leave. This was just... it was making him feel bad and felt too.. familiar.

He didn't even know or like Stark and this was skeeving him out.

"Anyway, Wings, what you got for me? I've got my first session today so I can't hang around forever."

"It's just a note book, but I found these really fancy ones at the market, it's embossed leather and the paper is nice and thick too. I grabbed you the red one."

He handed it over and he took it carefully because it looked really important and quite pretty. There was a wolf embossed on the front that had been dyed white. It had bright gray blue eyes that were some kind of stone, which he thought was pretty cool as it was like his. He unwrapped the cord around it and revealed blank pages inside. The paper was really heavy too. He blinked that it was blank, not quite getting it, and thankful Wings didn't call him an idiot.

"It's for you to write in. Anything you like, or don't like, things you see, anything that seems important that you want to remember, write it down. Here I got you a pen too. It's a fountain pen, but it's a Lamy pen so they're really easy to use."

The pen was red too, he was starting to sense a theme, maybe other people had noticed he'd liked red things? Maybe Wings just liked red? He did wear a lot of red, and Redwing was well, red.

He'd only noticed he liked it today, but apparently others had worked it out faster.

"Spasibo Wings, this is awesome."

" I hope you get lots of use out of them. I have a bad habit of buying fancy notebooks and never writing in them because I can't decide what to put in them."

He chuckled at himself as he slipped the book and pen into a side pocket of his bag, Clint was laughing to Wanda about him having a handbag which was confusing. It was over his shoulder anyway.

"Okay, I best be off."

"Yeah, good luck with the brain tech."

" I'm probably going to need it!"

He actually felt surprisingly good about the whole thing, he thought he'd be more nervous but between eating good food, enjoying his drink, getting a gift, feeling less potentially awful about Stark… The good was seriously outweighing the bad today.

"Bucky, are you sure you want to go today? You know you don't have to. You could just stay home and we could watch movies together."

"I want to get the words out of my brain Steve. That ain't gonna happen sitting around watching movies."

"But you don't know that. The more you remember being Bucky and then anything else might just go away."

"If time would fix it, Zemo wouldn't have been able to trigger me."

"But this time you're with me."

He really felt like bashing his head into a wall.

"Steve, I have all of my memories from before the fall, remember. They're all in here. So sitting around not doing anything won't help. Shuri and T'Challa have gone to a lot of effort to give me this chance. Of course I'm going to take it."

"But they don't understand you like I do, they won't even talk about your treatment with me when I told them to."

"You told me you were going to apologise to them, why am I getting the feeling you've been rude or ungreatful again?"

Wings was giving him a strange questioning look so he turned away from Steve and to him.

"Do you remember yesterday?"

"I've got some gaps, I remember leaving the room with my book and after that it's sketchy."

"Well T'Challa -"

"Sam!"

"What Steve? You want to pretend yesterday didn't happen? I'm not as comfortable as lying as some people, Barnes, I'll meet up with you on that hill you like later? Message me when you're free."

Wings waved his tablet at him, the way Wanda glared at it made me think that not everyone had one after all. Wings left the entire building after that. Yeah, he really needed to know what happened yesterday!

" Okay, if you are going to this then I'm coming too. To make sure no one does anything bad to you."

"Shuri isn't going to do anything bad to me, I trust her. And you are not coming to my appointments."

"If you trust her that nothing bad is going to happen then you should be fine with having me there then! If there is nothing to hide then you should have no problem with me being there."

"No, Steve, and what the hell kind of logic is that. You don't get it, this is my journey to find myself. I want to do it alone."

"But I can help Buck. I can tell you everything about you."

"Steve, no. I'm different than how I was in my memories, and my therapist says that's fine. People change over time, and even more because of traumatic events."

"See, this is why I need to be there so they don't fill your head with nonsense like that. You can be Bucky again, you just have to try and I know you better than anyone."

"Alright. Fine. Just give me 15 minutes. I need to brush my teeth and get my jumper. Then I'll be back down and we can leave."

"Okay Buck! Want me to come help?"

He almost feels guilty for how happy he looks, but he just _won't listen to him_, he's sick of him treating him like an idiot or a kid who can't make their own damned choices. The fact that Steve thinks he can tell his therapist off for telling him something that actually made him feel tons better? When she told him he could be anyone he wanted to be, that he could find himself slowly bit by bit and that it was fine? That was amazing and it was totally going in his notebook.

"Steve, I think I can brush my teeth and dress myself."

"Yeah, but with one arm I imagine it's really hard. I can't believe they left you in cryo so long coming with this stupid device that is probably not even necessary now your awake and with us, and they didn't even make you a new arm! They could have installed it before you even woke up! "

He gives Steve the most horrified look he can summon before walking towards the stairs to the bedrooms.

"Steve. No. That's not what I wanted at all. I told Shuri not to make me an arm. Until the words are gone it's too much of a risk of me hurting someone."

Plus the arm _hurt. _ The socket hurt too, but it was nothing compared to the arm. Getting it blasted off had been the best thing to ever happen to him.

"Oh Buck, you wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Not voluntarily no. But until the words are gone. No arm."

As he starts heading up the stairs he hears Steve talking to Wanda about how he can convince Shuri to start making an arm and Wanda adds that she could help convince him too. For some reason that makes him go cold and he finds himself nervous, but he doesn't understand why. The voice he occasionally hears in the back of his mind is utterly silent, but it weirdly feels like the fear is coming from there. He shakes his head, he needs to move now if he wants this to work. He takes the steps multiple at a time passing the 2 residential floors as Tic Tac calls them, and then up another fight to make it to his floor. He opens the largest window in his living room and looks out. Good, nothing in the way. He didn't want to land in a hedge or trample someone's pretty flower bed.

He stood still for a second, listening and he could hear Steve still on the ground floor. He couldn't hear what he's saying, but he could pinpoint him. As long as he stayed in the kitchen with his back to the common room he was fine. Only Tic Tac could see the windows he'd pass. He jumped out of the window enjoying the fall and finding it exhilarating. He was definitely doing that again, maybe he could find something higher to jump off as well, heights were awesome. A memory of Buckys swam up to him and he felt this just proved his point. Bucky was apparently terrified of heights. Where as he wanted to find something taller and jump off of it

He crept towards the living room windows, Steve rarely seemed to use his senses when he wasn't fighting, but better safe than sorry, a quick glance showed him that everyone was still in the same position. This time he made himself visible until Tic Tac saw him, he has his tablet out because he hoped he'd look shocked so he could take a picture to show Shuri, he waved casually at him and silently laughed as he'd caused his drink to come out of his nose, he quickly snapped a few pictures before the others went to hit him on the back where they might see him. He could see two of the Dora watching him, grinning at him, probably for launching himself from the top story window. He grinned back before started at a slow jog before slowly working up to a fast run. If he had timed it right, he'd been on the train before Steve even realised he was gone.

Whilst he was sat on the train he opened his notebook, he wouldn't be on it for a very long but it was enough for him to get started maybe, he practiced writing on a bit of card he tore off the pop tart box because he wanted to see if he could actually write neatly.

In Bucharest he'd written fast as the memories came and hadn't been very neat. He shocked himself when his writing was all flowing and kind of curly, yeah he liked that. He had the quote his therapist had told him and he decided that the first page would be quotes or stuff that he liked. He put the title in the middle of the page just as 'Myself' and then he figured he could do quotes and even little doodles around it. The next page he wondered if to space of 3 pages for 'stuff I like' and the 3 for 'stuff I dislike'.. Or even a page for Food he likes but that sounds just confusing. There is plenty of space in the book and the therapist said it's OK to make mistakes as he learns himself, as long as he lands from them too.

He didn't have much time and he spent a good few minutes fretting over where he needs a contents page or not.

_'I'm starting to see why Wings has trouble with notebooks..' _

In the end he is running out of time so let's that help him, adding '**Things I Enjoy**' to that page. Flipping 3 pages and putting '**Things I Dislike**'. Looking at his pretty handwriting, he has a feeling he'll be Googling a lot to put things in the book and remembers his Google list. For that he flips to the end of the book, figured if he leaves a gap between each think he needs to look up, he can write down what he finds out. He has time to write '**The Almighty Google List'** and put one thing in the likes and dislikes section, before he has to put his stuff away. Maybe Shuri can show him how to get the pictures off of the tablet, or maybe he could get a camera like Tic tac, then he could put pictures in the book too. He had a feeling that he might want to put his Book under things he likes…

Suddenly the task of finding things he likes or not has become fun just because he gets to write them down.

How weird is that?


	11. Chapter 11 - White Wolf

**White Wolf**

**Barnes POV**

_**September 12**_

When he arrives at Shuri lab, he's still quite hyped up from jumping out of the window and evading Steve, because that was really _fun _. The notebook was also really added to that and he really wanted to tell Shuri about it. He practically jogged into the Lab, Shuri saw him coming and smiled.

"What's got you all smiling today?"

"I jumped out of my window to stop Steve coming today and discovered jumping out of windows is really fun! Also Wings gave me this notebook where I can write things I like and don't like so I don't have to keep it all in my head!"

Shuri doubled over laughing at him jumping out of the window.

"Oh I need to see that! And I need to see this book!"

He sits down, pulling his bag into his lap, pulling out the poptart box and Shuri peers of curiously and then pulls out the book and the pen that Wings gave him.

"He even gave me this fancy pen and everything. I've not written much yet though."

She picked up the book and gives him a questioning look before opening it, this is why he looked Shuri and T'Challa, they never _assumed _. Wings was starting to be the same it was great. People not assuming anything nor expecting him to be someone. She smiled at the quote, got a huge grin when she saw the likes page which had 'Shuri braiding my hair.' at the dislikes she frowned, it having 'Being called Bucky'. She hummed to herself before glancing at the cover of the book.

"How about I call you White Wolf? Much better than Bucky, Yes?"

"Definitely better than Bucky. Today seems to be the day of nicknames. Scott realised that I call Sam wings and wanted a nickname. It was an interesting breakfast. I think the fun moments outnumbered the annoying ones. Although Steve tried insisting he come here and to my Therapist appointments too, I don't know, to make sure I turn into a perfect Bucky-Clone or something."

He rolled his eyes whilst bringing up the picture on his tablet of Tic-Tac choking on his drink and it coming out of his Nose, she was pulling up the CCTV footage so they could swap.

"Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love watching you have fun throwing yourself out of windows. But you don't have to worry about Rogers following you now. T'Challa has put him on house arrest. He's currently unable to leave the house."

"Oh that's hilarious, what caused that?"

She tilted her head and looked curiously at him.

"I thought you were around for that bit. Either way, my brother gave him another chance to come clean about Siberia. He even gave him a while to think on it. Instead of doing that, he doubled down on the lies over and over tried to claim he was doing it for you, for everyone else, even for Dr Stark which is laughable considering how much they've been slating the man. Even when he had been called on it, he kept trying, never accepting he was even lying for himself. He even tried saying that you remembered wrong.

"Out of punishments, house arrest is quite minor, but he thought it would give you a chance at freedom and if he was confined to the villa, you wouldn't have to go to such lengths as jumping out of windows to go the therapy."

It was like the memory of a memory in his mind but it was… Just out of reach. Yeah, he definitely needed to find out what had happened yesterday and why he was losing time like that.

" That's good at least, I really didn't want him here for this, especially not when the hydra memories would come up. I think he'd get angry."

"Well, let's just say any requests for him to join you will be denied unless you personally make them. Today is easy though. Good memories!"

He followed her over to what looked like a strange set up, chair in the middle with poles around. Thankfully the chair looked nothing like Hydra and the distinct lack of straps calmed him down a little. He did feel awkward and kind of ridiculous sat there.

"OK, slip these on, they aren't programmed to you yet, but that's what the memory draws do. You'll pick a memory out of everything that comes up which will be like the… First pass code. There is like a little zap when you put them on."

He looked at the glasses warily, fiddling with the pink sticker again before thinking screw it and slipping the glasses on. Biting the inside of his cheek and waiting for the pain, he feels a tiny buz, barely more than a bug bite and it startles him because it was a lot less than he'd expected. He'd been expecting so much more. Before he has a chance to say anything however images practically explode out of him. Flicking around him as a hologram but each doesn't stay up long enough to actually play.

Some are sepia toned, in fact most are sepia toned it seems. Ones his brain has coded happy seem to be generally pulling from the memories that he'd had returned by the Wakandan tech. Some however aren't and they are like explosions of colour. One bursts out and plays for longer whilst others flash around the edges, but it's easy to focus on the one in full colour. It was not long after they'd come to Wakanda, Shuri had decided that she liked him and was looking out for him. Clint was buzzing around being annoying and lecturing him for not being '_Bucky enough_' and that it was upsetting Steve. Shuri had demanded he leave, but he had refused and she had kicked him in the shin hard enough that he'd actually hobbled out and he'd burst out laughing. Feeling more human in that moment than he had in so long. He didn't know how, but that image was the first pass code lock as it was swept up in all the others.

He wasn't sure how long it took. It felt like hours, but his body clock said different. That it was definitely less than an hour. When the images slowed and eventually stop he felt like he had one heck of an emotional hangover, to say the least. The glasses spoke to him, tell him that the upload was complete and the data was compiling and he slipped the glasses off. Blinking as the holograms collapsed to the floor like pixels turning to sand.

"Right, that's it for today."

"Wait? That's it?"

"Yup, the data draws just filter through memories of a certain type, you pick one as your pass code, then me and the outside contractor get to compile and he starts creating the algorithm. After that it's less easy, well be able to locate the memories the words are attached to to disassociate them. But he recommended starting small and working up to the words."

"Okay, that sounds doable, so, Um, who is this mysterious '_outside contractor_'?"

"Hmm, oh, He's called Anthony. He developed this tech which spans so many different branches of science, its frankly kind of annoying."

"That is impressive, I thought it would, I don't know? Hurt more?"

"I wouldn't have allowed you to put it on if it hurt. He tested it on himself first through many versions and told me this one doesn't even cause migraines."

"Wow, isn't that, I don't know, strange? I thought testing unknown tech on yourself was dangerous?"

"Oh yeah, very dangerous. He said killer migraines and profuse vomiting were the norm."

"Okay… So, self preservation is not a thing to this bloke?"

"Nope! Me and a few others are trying to help with that."

"Well it's good that he has you."

"Well, seeing as we are now done with today's session, how about we revisit that discussion about your arm?"

He flinched. What was it with people and his arm today?

"Ah, no. I don't want an arm. Not until I'm safe."

"You are safe here though? Aren't you?"

"Not until the code words are gone. I.. I can't risk that happening. I could hurt you. It's not worth it. Plus, I'm fine."

"Hm, okay White Wolf, do you want to see some designs I have anyway? Me and Anthony made one for fun a while ago, it's not a whole arm, just a hand and wrist because he wanted to see if we could do it. It's night and day to that Hydra thing you had."

Looking wasn't taking it, he could just look and that would be fine.

"Sure."

Shuri squealed, jumping up and down in happiness before bringing up lots of information and finally bringing out specifications to the hand and wrist. It was matte black, sleek and very different to what hydra made. Just looking at it, he could see it was meant to replace a hand instead of being a weapon. The notes around saying that it could feel? That's definitely different. Inside looked much different to the Hydra arm too. He knew how to do basic maintenance, nothing flashy but he'd had to manage in Bucharest without a technician.

"That is really different, night and day like you said."

He started flicking through the notes, reading about how instead of wires, tiny little robots did most of the inside functions… Some how? Shuri's phone chirped in her pocket, causing him to frown.

"I didn't know people used phones in Wakanda? I thought the.. beads worked as phones?"

"They don't, but if I want to talk to any of my friends outside of Wakanda, I need to use this."

"Ah, is that the outside contractor?"

"Oh? No, no, I just got a picture from Dr Stark, he's making a speech today and they look like they're ready to talk on the world."

"Oh, are you friends with Stark too?"

"Oh definitely, he's one of the few people on the planet who can even keep up with me! And he never complains even if I know more. He's nothing like the media representation of him either. It was quite a shock to discover how kind the man in. I think he runs like a hundred charities."

That.. That was different that what he was expecting. Steve's friends never would have described him like that, but it seems like both of the royals at least liked the man. Shuri, whilst young, she seemed like a good judge of character.

"I didn't know that about him.. Just what the others say about him."

"Oh you definitely need better source. Keep in mind for all their insults, they leeched of him for _years_. They were perfectly happy to live in the lap of luxury and receive personalised gear. He worked himself half to death for those idiots. Especially on the Accords."

"Steve said the Accords were there to try and control the Avengers, to force them to do things, the Ross is evil and Tony is in bed with the guy. "

"Well, first, my father came up with the basis of the Accords. They're much better than the alternative anyway. Dr Stark has been working constantly to make them better, and he despises Ross. "

That's extremely definitely different, Clint and Wanda were so sure that Stark and Ross were in cahoots. And Shuri's father came up with the Accords? He wondered if Steve knew that when they came here, wondered if T'Challa was annoyed when Steve was insulting the last work of his late father? The man had practically died for it.

"Hm, Okay, were going to watch this so you can get an idea of the man without others clouding your judgement."

He turned to a screen she had flicked on, and from the writing at the bottom this was the Accords Council in session. There were a lot of people in a semi circle around a recently vacated podium. It was mostly just people talking to each other, discussing something that he had honestly no idea about.

"Hey, Shuri, could you get me a copy of the Accords?"

"Sure, I'll send it to your tablet as it currently stands, Dr Stark has some amendments he's been trying to get through for weeks and he's hoping today will finally get the ball moving. Ross has been fighting him every step of the way, and whilst Rhodes is awesome, Dr Stark knows the buttons to push."

He nodded and turned back to the screen just in time to see Stark walk into the room. Pushing open the double doors with both arms and standing still for a few seconds, smirking at the camera in an oddly predatory way. His black shirt and suit with the striking tie in his Ironman colours really stood out. As he hadn't seen many suits in his time, he wasn't exactly knowledgeable on the subject, but it looked expensive. It looked like it had been practically poured on the man. The red mirrored sunglasses seemed to capture the lights and flash. It was impressive and definitely setting a scene, pretty much everyone in the room had paused. He noticed the woman behind him… that was Barton's wife again, odd, he'd have expected Rhodes._ 'Maybe she's his PA.. ? Oh that is going to go down so well if she is.' _

Clint had shown everyone pictures of his wife and kids not long after they were settled in the villa, and she looks nothing like she did then. In that photo she'd had long hair, and was dressed comfortably in worn clothes at a farm. Now she was just as in place as Stark was, but with an ice blue blouse to match the blue in her hair. Her hair was in a complicated up-do and he had no idea how it had been done, but then he barely knew how Shuri did his hair. The blue was more visible with it up and there were glints of silver, when he looked closer he noticed on one of the braids had like a silver spiral. Her suit was similar to Stark's, definitely not something either of them went and bought in a shop at a guess. As she joined him on the podium he noticed a flash of red at her heels.

"They look amazing! I'm so happy Laura picked my design for her hair!"

He just nodded and returned his attention to the screen, not sure why he was so interested. But the back of his mind, where strange comments came from, that he didn't really understand and was way too nervous to actually ask anyone if it was normal to have thoughts pop into your head out of nowhere? It had started to feel.. Bigger? Definitely bigger lately. Like there was _more_ to it. It was definitely interested in the screen and got the feeling that it had to do with the man dismantling his gun when it was still in his hand similar to how it wanted to know about Shuri after kicking Clint. Laura's hands were dancing over blue holograms that reminded him so much of Shuri. Stark was just casually leaning against the side of the podium looking around the room and he noticed again that Stark had the look of a predator about him. That he was lazily scouting the room for someone to pounce and shred.

He shook his head. That was weird, he saw a lot from Stark but looking againhhe didn't get that feeling, like it didn't feel like it came from him. That part of his mind was definitely more _present_.. Less at the back and more sharing with him it's observations, which were frankly a bit creepy. It reminded him of the few missions he'd recalled as the asset, and how he would assess people into categories of importance. His Hypervigilance focusing in a way he couldn't replicate. Thankfully Stark started talking so he didn't have to think about it.

_"Hello everyone, the rumors of my demise, retirement or whatever the new one of the week is, have been wildly exaggerated. I hope I haven't missed too much?" _

People had thought he was dead? Damn, he really did need to start researching more. Finding out things himself instead of just following what people told him.

_"Unfortunately I am not here to bring glad tidings. I'm here to present to you multiple violations for someone under the Accords as they're regarding Inhuman, Enhanced Humans, Mutants, And pretty much everyone that is protected by the Vienna Accords as they stand. Hopefully - " _

"Look at T'Challa!"

They both had a chuckle at T'Challa who seemed suitably shocked by the duos intro. This must be what Shuri was talking about, that Stark was working to make things better? Maybe he was talking about Ross? It felt like Shuri was hinting to that. If he was talking about the General like that then he doubted that the two men were friends as Clint claimed. He missed the next bit trying to think back in his mind about connections between the two. The hissed warning of someone else brought his attention back.

_" - session is televised. Shouldn't this information be sent to interested parties only!?" _

Somehow he got the idea that Stark had chosen this moment _because _it was being filmed. The amused smirk on Laura's face confirmed that, he noticed that her gaze sharpened almost viciously when she looked at the man interrupting Stark's speech.

_"Mr Jackson, this is the perfect time. Accountability is for everyone when it comes to the Accords, not just those of us no longer classed as baseline human." _

From what he'd been told about Stark was that he was accountable to no one and only Steve kept him in check from going full villain. Which seemed in conflict for a man standing, televised wanting accountability.

"Oooo. That's Ross' aid by the way. Dr Stark told me he's nearly as shifty as his Boss."

Shuri needed popcorn he decided, it would fit the image better.

_"Now, where was I. Yes, the individual in question, as I'm sure you and several key people in law enforcement are now seeing has been quite the naughty boy. He has also evaded 6 attempts to be taken into custody and has tried illegal means to remove the information in front of you from various sources private and public. " _ _" Why has this not been brought to attention before.. This is a lot… " _ _"Yes it is a lot Mr Davenport, I have been collecting information on this individual for a number of years and have tried many times to bring him down. The information was dispirite and various law enforcement agencies simply didn't know too communicate with each other, well go with that excuse for why he wasn't already behind bars shall we? Of course, I am happy to do my duty under the Accords to bring this to you as a signed member. Even though I am still technically signed off on medical leave, I thought this too important to wait much longer. " _

"Stark is still not recovered? "

"Not fully, although he tries to hide it to make everyone think he's fine. He's barely stopped working since he woke up.. When he first called me he was still in his hospital bed… "

He reached out slowly to grip her shoulder, it helped him and she looked quite distraught by the memory. Although he wondered if him being there was a help at all, seeing it was him and Steve who had put him in that hospital bed..

_"I have petabytes of data, videos, written, everything required and I will be honest. If this is swept away and ignored, again, as this information is legally my own. I will release it onto the Internet." _ _"We don't appreciate threats Dr Stark." _ _"Dr Maloj, I don't not wish to threaten your lovely self or anyone here. But when you have watched the videos you will understand my fervour. Plus precedent was set after the fall of SHIELD was it not? I do not believe that an Amendment to that section regarding releasing of information has been tabled yet. " _ _" I thought you were against the data dump Dr Stark" _

"Data dump?"

"Hm? Oh, during DC, your little Captain thought it would be a _good_ idea to dump the entirety of SHIELDS database onto the Internet. Not just the Hydra files.. Dr Stark and Colonel Rhodes worked themselves to the bone to save as many as they could.."

"Steve.. he must have messed up, surely he wouldn't be risked so many people like that?"

The Stevie he knew wouldn't have recklessly risked lives like that, not good people. He moved mountains to rescue him and the others when he'd been captured the first time… dammit there was so much he didn't know and it felt like Steve was leaving bits out. He turned his attention back to the TV.

_"- the innocent were hurt. I assure you, this will not be a reckless act. It will not be an ill conceived idea born of desperation. You could call it an act of civil disobedience that will only harm those at fault. The versions I release will completely protect those who have been hurt except the ones who have contacted me and have signed permission for me to release files with their likeness. " _

Shuri was practically vibrating in her seat and he had to admit, it was easy to get swept up with the way Stark talked. His hands seemed to never stop moving and even though he kept his sunglasses on indoors, his face was still quite expressive. .

_" Oh, and I also have information pertinent to forgein countries as they have been, lets say, 'quite involved' with this individuals little off the books operations. Oh, and yes people of America, this does include a large dose of tax fraud, misuse of your hard earned tax dollars and bribery. " _

The small grouping of press allowed inside the room got all flustered about that last part... which was utterly confusing. But the misuse of money always trended to get people riled up. Something that hadn't changed since the 40s.

_"The information I have pertains to so many crimes against humanity that putting this file together over the years has not been pleasant. It is frankly, chilling. _ _" Human rights violations are never pretty, even if we are talking about people who are seen as less than human by some. Many do include humans who because of this man have been forced into enhancements, mutations, changes to their body against their will. Bodily autonomy seems a fleeting idea, - " _

His mind became white static for a bit, what the hell? Why had Steve not done something about this guy?! That.. That was horrible and it felt so similar to what he experienced. Did Steve know? He couldn't. If he did then he should have done something instead of snarling about the man.

_"Human experimentation, reckless endangerment of minors, ethics were just not involved anywhere and aspects of this are straight up torture to those he kept. To those who escaped their lives were systematically destroyed, reputations ruined, family's threatened, all to force his victims into an easier point of capture. This has spanned several years, in several countries and includes a frankly terrifying amount of property damage. This is coming from me, the man who cleaned up after the Avengers for years. Including New York. This individual has not spent a penny in reparation efforts and has often illegally shifted the blame. " _

Stark cleaned up after the Avengers? That was new information. From what he'd been told he didn't really do much of anything. If there was one thing he hatred was contradicting information.

_"- recently we come to his violations of creating a secret prison that breaks so many rules I'll be here for an hour listing them. He then illegally detained people without adequate warrants in the illegal prison and claimed to be doing it on behalf of yourselves. " _

That.. That was the raft? But Clint and Wanda said Stark put them into that prison? Had he and Steve broken them out of an illegal prison? If so, then they wouldn't have had to go in, they would have been released as soon as Stark had a chance to get them out maybe? He wondered if by breaking them out, did they just complicate matters.

"The raft was illegal?"

"Oh definitely, my father would never have condoned such measures. T'Challa and myself find it quite insulting that Mr Rogers thinks the Accords had anything to do with that debacle."

He can tell she is definitely angry about that, maybe he should try and talk to Steve about the Accords, or at least the raft. Try and get him to not run his mouth around T'Challa. An image of Steve flashed into his mind, shoulders squared, jaw locked, ready to take on the world… yeah maybe that wouldn't work.

He looked closely at Stark when he realised he was only gesturing with one hand now when both of his hands had been gesticulating as he spoke with passion. His right hand was gripping the side of the podium, tight enough that on Shuri high definition screen he could see Stark's knuckles were white. He barely looked different but he knew where to look for signs of stress. He'd paled ever so slightly, his olive complexion hiding it somewhat. Was he in pain? Should he even be here right now? He was starting to think not, maybe the rumours of him being severely injured were more true than he had realised. A spike of guilt stabs through him think of Siberia, again. Stark's voice again drags him out of his spiralling thoughts with startling ease

_"I am of course talking about one Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross. Now, whilst I accept the fugitive status of certain individuals and Thaddeus drive to bring them in." _

That must be him and the others.

_"Of course in that drive he subverted the Accords and the will of the original 117 countries, now a fantastic 139 with 2 more ready to join any day." _

That was... a lot of countries, Steve never mentioned that, he thought it was some kind of American only thing. 141 countries.. That's a lot to say screw you too.. And that's just what Steve and his team did.

Getting more than a handful of countries to agree on something was like getting blood out of a stone, some of the missions he'd been sent on were about stopping things exactly like this. A death or two and they unravelled with ease.

_"To take what we want to be a shield to protect civilians and heroes alike, to guard humans, superhuman, inhumans, enhanced humans, humans with unusual qualities such as very large intellects, which by the way, is quite the compliment. Thank you. Also included androids and artificial intelligence and those seeking personhood. " _

He was again surprised at Stark's passion for a document that Steve hated and called a _leash_. Stark called it a _shield_. Those were incredibly different ways of seeing one thing. Clint had claimed it was easy for Stark to sign on, all he had to do was stop using the suit and he was just a baseline human. Not like Steve, Wanda, Nat, Himself even and some others he didn't recognise. But Stark just allowed himself to be classed as Inhuman or Superhuman. He didn't even fight it. From Shuri's mutterings she noticed it too.

_"- Accords are, protection for all, to take our mistakes of the past, never forget them, never cover them up, never forget the lives lost, accountability, security. Not a subversion of these great ideals put on paper by the late King T'Chaka and taken up by his son. This shield won't become a noose as long as I'm breathing, from standing in front of you or from my hospital bed, I assure you, I will not give up." _

As he drew to a close, his voice cracked around the room like a whip, everyone's attention was on him and again he had to admit to feeling impressed at the way Stark worked the room, but then the guy had been likely doing it for years. What surprised him was that he then took a step back to allow Laura front and centre. His hand giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. Laura offered him a warm smile before squaring her shoulders with an easy grace.

"If Barton sees this, he's going to be spitting mad."

_"I'm sure none of you will recognise me, except as Dr Stark's amazing new personal assistant of course." _

Well, that clarified the assistant idea, Clint was not going to li-

_"My soon to be ex husband is one of the fugitives that was illegally detained." _

And suddenly her being his assistant wasn't the worst thing.

"O Bozhe."

_"That is not why I am standing here. I'm standing here because Ross sent multiple teams of heavily armed, highly trained men to my farm. A farm I lived on alone with three children, my youngest had not long turned one year old. The others are seven and thirteen years old. They don't understand what is happening, why a man sent tactical teams to raid our home." _

Well that explained why she was at the compound, and from Shuri's relaxed stance, he got the sense she already knew. He also wondered how Steve would take it when he realised just how connected the people who were hiding them were with Stark and his cohorts. Not that he was going to be stupid enough to say a thing.

_"I don't even know anything, after my ex husband left to join this ill advised fight, that was where my information ended." _

Oh she was definitely angry. She practically spat_ 'ill-advised'_. Her eyes flashed with anger, her face was extremely expressive, maybe more noticeable after Stark gave his speech with his glasses still in place. He was still yet to remove them and he couldn't help but think about the picture in the hospital. With the bandages taped over his eyes.. '_Maybe he just likes sunglasses?'_ He thought hopefully, he didn't move like he was blind, at least he didn't think he did, but with someone like Stark, would he really know?

_"Yet my home was raided. I don't want to think what might have happened if Tony Stark, 37 hours after waking up from his coma hadn't abandoned his hospital bed to rescue me. Don't worry, I immediately marched him back into it. " _

_Bespredel_. Does this idiot have limits? After just waking from such a serious neurological issues the man should have been confined to resting! He could have put himself back into a coma, yet he risked his own mind to rescue the wife of a man who outright detests him? That is.. Not something he would have expected. Definitely not from what he had been told.

He also suspected his wife saying Tony Stark saved her was not going to endear him to Clint somehow. The man was angry at anything and everything lately, he definitely shouldn't see this.

_" After reading what he has done to innocent women and children in the past, I do not believe we would have fared well, especially waiving the Accords around. He didn't do this because I was refusing to cooperate with the authorities, I was doing everything I should. That wasn't enough, he wanted to terrorise the families to scare 'them' back. The kind of tactics I'm ashamed to think of happening in this country. Me and my children are human, the law failed to protect me, Ironman didn't. We are not the only family he has brought in from the cold. We stand with him as a real protector, not a villain like Thaddeus Ross. " _

Yup. This was like a grenade waiting to be dropped in their laps.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to be there when the others saw it, or as far away as possible. That other part of him, was darkly amused and wanted to watch the angry man get crushed. He pushed that away, he didn't really like Clint but he didn't think he was that vindictive. Watching Laura turn to huddle into Stark's arms… yeah he has to admit it. He does kind of want to see his face.

"You might want to warn your brother.. When they see this… Clint is going to want to run off half cocked to _save _her."

At Shuri's incredulous look he continues.

"This morning he was harping on that Stark has taken his family captive, even though in her instawhatsit, she seemed happy."

"Instagram! Oh yeah, she looks amazing, the kids do too, I wonder if he's found Lilah's yet.. She has it locked down to friends only.."

_"Thank you for taking the time today to listen to what we had to say. I'll leave you now to hopefully do what should have been done long ago. Whilst I might be gone, I will be watching." _

Stark's parting words sends a shudder down his spine. His smile is all teeth and suddenly he can get behind that part of his mind calling him a predator. He looks like a wolf. Definitely an apex predator, he just wished he could see his eyes under his glasses. The last time he'd seen them they'd been broken in grief and he wanted to replace that memory.

Stark offered Laura his arm and she slipped next to him, that didn't help him when it came to confirmation that he wasn't blind. Neither of them even looked back as the man who had been arguing was led off in cuffs through a different aspect, the shot managed to capture both the retreating forms of Stark and Laura and the man being dragged off yelling.

"Well, that was perfect."

"He really knows how to command the room doesn't he."

"Oh yeah, you should see when he went up against the senate when they wanted his suit! That was hilarious. My favourite is still when he revealed himself to be Ironman. Seriously he just had a press conference and said _'I am Ironman.'_ The kids will never let him forget it."

"There does seem to be a lot to him that I don't know.."

_'That's absolutely opposite to what I've been told in fact.' _

"Yeah, I think the two of you would get on swimmingly."

His eyes widening, no, that was a _bad idea_. The fight in Siberia flashed into his mind, his voice was so broken. Yeah. No. Meeting Stark was never going to happen. He couldn't do that to the man, force him to look at the man who killed his parents? That would just be cruel.

"No, I couldn't do that to him. Plus I'm pretty sure he hates me."

Shuri just looks exasperated.

He decides that as good a time to hand over her present before she dives at his hair. It had taken ages but his therapist had recommended repetitive tasks and creative tasks. Making a tiny origami cat fit both.

**T'Challa POV**

T'Challa had been bored, absolutely mind numbingly bored. He wasn't even sure why he was attending today but his sister had organised his schedule and had pointed out that they needed to have a visible presence at some of these meetings to remind them that the document came from their father. It all sounded very good and convincing, but now he was sat here so abjectly bored he was considering how he was going to get revenge on her. He'd done the rounds several times over the course of the day, this was his last session and he could go home, _finally_.

It hadn't been an utter waste of time, he had spoken to as many people as he could in regards to Dr Stark as well as several ammendments Wakanda had interest in. Starting his penance for abandoning an ally in need. It was a small thing, but maybe helpful when people started to realise that Tony Stark also had the baking of Wakanda and all her resources? It might make things easier for the man. The amendments he proposed were good ones and Ross seemed to be fighting him on sheer principle now. Ever since Dr Stark had started taking in the families of the rogues, Ross had turned almost rabid on the man.

He thought back to Clint and his ridiculous reaction to go and '_rescue_' Laura. If only he knew that Dr Stark had already rescued his family from trouble they wouldn't even be in if it wasn't for the rogues actions. Sighing internally he resigned himself to be bored for the rest of the session, just as the double doors opened together, quite dramatically, leaving one Dr Stark stood between them in a casual pose. He stood just long enough to get everyone's attention before moving towards the podium. T'Challa was pretty such his mouth his the floor. Laura Barton walking in next to him didn't help.

They were both dressed to the nines, their suits were absolutely stunning, Laura's blue hair went well with the ice blue blouse. Dr Stark with his black on black suit looked a touch dramatic, the bright red and gold tie like a slash of colour topped of with the red mirrored glasses that the man didn't take off. Even when he started speaking.

T'Challa has listened to many people speak at that podium all day, and he'd struggled to pay attention to them. The way Dr Stark worked the room, it was like he had a physical presence that gripped them all and commanded their attention. The subject matter added an extra layer to drag people in. Even though he had not realised how dirty Ross was and Wakanda had been spying on the man for a long time. He had a feeling that Dr Stark's AI had something to do with it.

Laura seemed to have a grace that commanded attention. Where Dr Stark's personality seemed to have everyone rapt, Laura was perfectly poised and with grace and charm she kept everyone as attentive as she spoke. He already knew what had happened with the Barton family from his sister, but hearing it from Laura herself as she spoke about her children was heartbreaking.

On their own, T'Challa thought, they would have dealt a serious blow to Ross together as a 1 - 2 hit? It was perfect and he doubted the snake would slither out of this trap with ease. As they started to step down from the podium, T'Challa gathered his things and slipped through an exit close to him, circling around to wait for the pair so he could possibly try to talk to him. Even if Dr Stark railed at him, he would accept it and work to mend bridges. Now he had most of the story from Siberia, the drive to make up for abandoning an ally was strong.

He came to the door and saw one of the aids he'd spoken to a few times, the kid seemed excited and enthusiastic to be working with the Accords Council and had spoken to him about his father on the few occasions they'd met since Vienna for the Accords to be ratified. As Dr Stark and Laura approached, the kid flushed with excitement and T'Challa was impressed that someone so young was so interested in an occasionally mind numbingly boring topic. Well, Dr Stark's little speech could hardly be called boring, but today had been off the charts.

"That was amazing!"

The kid actually jumped, kind of awkwardly, but Tony reached out and steadied him. He had been about to reach out but Dr Stark was faster. That he'd seen and moved so quick made T'Challa feel slightly better about his paranoia on the man's eyes. Although the sunglasses were still firmly in place. He also noted that both Dr Stark's hands looked like, well, normal flesh hands. Remembering pictures of the black cybernetic hand and his sisters concerns. This didn't discount it completely, but he could hope at least. He brought his attention back to the extremely excited guy.. Jordan if he remembered correctly. Wondering if he was going to pass out

"I was wondering, would you ah, sign this for me?"

Laura quickly took what Jordan had help put and placed it on the desk next Dr Stark, T'Challa wondered at the strange interaction, especially when Dr Stark immediately scooped it up, so it obviously wasn't a germ thing. He stayed quiet however as questioning people on quirks was quite rude and he was trying to do better, not worse when it came to his relationship with the man. Dr Stark looked quite shocked at whatever Jordan had passed to him, instantly upping his own curiosity.

"This. This is my first dissertation on artificial Intelligence."

'First?' T'Challa idly wondered how many he had, and how many were AI based, he glanced at the date on it and tried to line it up with what he knew about Dr Stark's age, but that couldn't be right. He must have his date of birth wrong...

"How old were you when you completed this Dr Stark?"

"I finished this up at 17 because I was doing a few others, but the bot and AI mentioned, I built when him when was 16. He's my '_first born_' and he is still a little menace in my lab."

T'Challa can suddenly understand why he and his sister get along so well. Thinking how she sped through instructors faster than their father found them.

He'd known the American was intelligent but completing doctorates at that age was definitely impressive, especially if he considered it _'late' _because he was busy completing other doctorates. He'd thought that he probably had more than one doctorate, T'Challa himself had three, but he'd never looked into how many he had. The fact that he still had the bot he'd created was quite heartening too, definitely not the man the media portrayed him as. Heartless people don't have pictures of their first born AIs covering them in foam. He wondered who the children in the picture were too, as far as he knew Dr Stark was childless. His sister was quite tight lipped about compound gossip, even when she was practically vibrating with it. She only passed along some information, like about the Barton family rescue purely to dare him to tell the rogues. Shockingly, he'd kept it to himself.

"Here you go kid, I still expect to hear from you, and bring your dissertation, it sounds interesting."

That time he nearly did swoon before having to get back to work. T'Challa was struggling to hide his smile.

"Were you trying to make him pass out?"

"What, Laura no, I actually looked him up and he went to MIT, I saw him under people I recognised. The kid went MIT young like me, started at 16."

"When did you start?"

"Oh, I was 14, hey T'Challa, want to join us for lunch?"

Laura looked disapproving of a 14 year old going to college on his own, the idea of Shuri out in the world, whilst tempting, but he liked having her safe at home. Also he was genuinely concerned for the planet. He doubted someone of his influence would have been just dumped at a college and suspected there would have been people with him. When he left Wakanda to study in England, as far as he was concerned 17 was old enough to go alone, his father had vehemently disagreed. Still, he imagined it must have been difficult, being much younger, yet ahead of your peers, speeding to completing doctorates in just so few years? He doubted it gave him much of a chance to enjoy a childhood which was what he suspected was upsetting Laura.

"I'd love to join you two, I don't know how we're going to get out though, it's a circus out there now."

T'Challa eyed the press outside, they'd been relatively calm all day what with the rather boring events. They'd spent 4 hours discussing potential wages for additional assistance and the barring of Accords signed supers in civil wars. That was exactly the same as it had been last week and the week before.

Now, however, there was almost twice as many than when he'd arrived and they were practically swarming. T'Challa realised he'd rather deal with more boring speeches going on and on about the same amendments that had been ratified than brave that circus.

"Oh don't worry. I knew it would be and I have zero intention of holding an impromptu press conference. My CEO and PA would kill me."

He grinned at Laura who just rolled her eyes, smiling as he headed off to the stairwell to the roof. Laura followed him as if she knew where they were going. T'Challa was left with little choice but to follow and found himself actually quite looking forward to the idea. He had a feeling this would not be boring, although he did wonder where they were going when they kept heading up.

"Hey Agent Mom, you're trending on twitter!"

"What? Me? Why me?! You're the one meant to be trending!"

"Well I am, but you are too, I think you've resurrected that I stand with Ironman tag before Everheart, there are lots about you too."

T'Challa pulled out his StarkPhone to check twitter. He'd sworn he would never use the thing when Shuri had shown it to him. Half of it seemed ridiculous, confusing and nonsensical. Then he realised it was two hours later and Shuri was laughing at him. Ever since he'd been quietly addicted to it, now they were integrating with the world he was happily more open about it. He saw pictures of Dr Stark and Laura from before and after the speech and they were definitely both trending. He happily retweeted himself, adding his own tags for standing with Ironman and Dr Stark. He idly wondered if the rogues would notice, that could be amusing. As far as he knew they didn't have much of a social media presence outside of the ones Dr Stark's staff managed for the Avengers.

As they exited onto the roof, T'Challa was definitely curious, it was possibly one of his best and worst traits, this time it had lead to him following an American genius onto the roof of the building, Okoye was not so subtly glaring at him as she discreetly followed him. As he'd been responding to his generals glare, he saw the brief flutter of surprise cross her face when Dr Stark waved at her. He wasn't sure how Dr Stark had seen her. They were rarely seen unless they wanted to be. He had another look at where they were hidden, blending seamlessly into the shadows. If he didn't know where they were, he wasn't sure he could have found them.

'_Definitely not blind_.' He thought to himself and wondered if he might be more changed than he looked? Or if his years fighting had just honed his instincts. They'd been so focused on his hand and potential blindness they hadn't considered other options. Was Dr Stark enhanced now? He pushed it out of his mind for now, but he'd definitely pass this on to his sister later today. It might be nothing, might just be a trait inherent to Dr Stark, the eccentric genius. It may even be his glasses.

"Damn I look good in this suit."

T'Challa grinned at Laura and went back to sharing pictures and checking what people were saying about Laura, adding as he went. Sure he was laying it on a bit thick, but hey. It's twitter. He was also happy that Dr Stark had invited him to dinner, he was much different in person than he had been on the video call, or even the exhausted presence he vaguely remembered from Germany. There was almost no sense that the smaller man was angry at him, he seemed friendly and had an excitable air around him. When not holding his phone, his hands gesticulated wildly as he spoke. When he was excited about something he almost rocked on his feet, like he couldn't not move. Whether he was in a stained band shirt, his current expense suit or the Ironman suit, he seemed to carry the same sense of presence about himself. He was oddly more approachable than he'd suspected. It was weird, he'd met the man several times now, but this felt like the first time. At least the first time where he was not clouded by grief or seeing the man as a young Howard.

The quinjet appearing above them almost silently almost made him jump, he had not expected such silence in an aircraft that was not Wakandan. It had stealth features, which, whilst they couldn't match their own stealth tech, Dr Stark had achieved this without Vibranium so it was certainly impressive in itself and he found himself itching to see how it worked. He didn't get to indulge often anymore in engineering or science now he was left with running Wakanda.

"Any requests for food? I know a few places in DC included this amazing Italian restaurant?"

He nodded along with Laura and turned his attention to the jet, mentally taking apart what little he could see, wondering how it worked and just what Dr Stark could achieve if Shuri got her way of letting the man loose in their library. They quickly made themselves comfortable. The jet was of a smaller size from the other quinjets he had seen before and thought that this was obviously his personal mode of transport when not flying in the suit. He suspected that not turning up in the suit was a calculated move. Showing up as Dr Stark instead of Ironman.

"Fry, my baby girl, can you get us a table at Carlluccio's? Something not too obvious, tell Zaz that I've made myself a storm again."

"Sure thing Boss, I'll head for the roof shall I? He should be amused at that."

Tony snorted and T'Challa did start a little at the voice that came seemingly from the jet itself. This must be one of the man's AIs. He and Shuri had been interested in Stark's AIs for years, hearing many stories about JARVIS and now some about FRIDAY. About how they had feelings, emotions and that the man brought them alive in binary code. The abilities of the AIs were utterly unknown and even though he and his sister didn't know much in the way of binary code, they'd hunted for just a glimpse of the AIs and got squat. Stark was extremely defensive about his AIs, after he'd spoken about his first bot with a rudimentary AI being his child? That defensive behaviour suddenly made a lot more sense. The fact the AI was driving the jet was fascinating and he couldn't not ask.

"Is that your AI? Is she driving the jet?"

"Yup, FRIDAY is my wonderful girl. Say Hi to the king."

"Hi King T'Challa, and yes I'm the pilot of the jet. Occasionally Boss takes over but he flew here, so I get to fly home and he gets to be lazy."

T'Challa couldn't help his wide smile, this AI was amazing. If he didn't have previous knowledge that he ran with an AI, he definitely could have mistaken her for a person. Her inflections were perfect and she was quite Sassy. From the soft smile that he'd never seen before on Dr Stark's face, he was obviously happy with her behaviour.

"Sass, again, on my ship now. I'm sassed at all quarters."

"Well you did code me Boss."

He had no idea that an AI could sound _smug. _

"Miss FRIDAY, I can't help but be amazed by yourself, I've been interested in AIs for a while but you are nothing like what else I've seen."

"Why thank you T'Challa, Boss can we keep him, he's so polite!"

"You charming my AIs over there?"

Dr Stark chuckled and it seemed to transform him face, Laura smiled brightly at him, obviously happy that her friend, and Boss he supposed, was happy. He continued asking FRIDAY questions for the duration of the trip, asking what it felt to acquire emotions and how she learnt from everyone she interacted with. That she independently researched things she wanted to learn was amazing. Dr Stark did not seem to agree with her interest in psychology but at the same time made no moves to restrict her.

When they arrived at the restaurant a short, olive skinned man made a beeline for Dr Stark, speaking in rapid fire Italian that he couldn't even hope to keep up with even though he had learnt the language recently. The speed however left him barely catching a word here and there. Dr Stark seemed to have no problem firing back just as fast, his accent even changed slightly when he was speaking Italian, he wondered how many languages he knew, his sister had informed him he was a polymath, he wondered if he was also a polyglot too. The rapid fire Italian suddenly halted and Dr Stark was suddenly downright cackling and he wondered what had happened until he was being greeted and he assumed his royal status had been noticed.

They were taken down into the restaurant and lead to a booth right at the bath. It was very private and very comfortable as well. The decor was also lovely, he'd not actually had Italian before so he was curious. The Dora were offered to share their table but instead split into two groups of two and seated either side of them. Dr Stark insisted on getting food for them also, which he knew meant a lot to them. After he sought Dr Stark's help for food choices he individually spoke to each of them. By the time he had found his way back to the table, even Okoye was smiling about the man. Somehow he had won her over which was no small feat. Especially considering she was predisposed to dislike the man based on the actions of his father.

He had already fought beside the man so decided against eating a 'normal' sized portion. Not when the food smelled that good. Plus he was hoping if he did, maybe Dr Stark would too, giving him more data. If the overly large portions of food interested the staff, no one said anything which T'Challa found quite polite, especially considering the current climate of distrust of anyone not baseline human. Dr Stark himself had been inadvertently doing quite a lot to help that with his non stop work despite his ill health.

As they were eating dessert, slowly and rather indulgently as everyone was very full. T'Challa did feel quite like a cat, full and wanting to doze in a warm sun beam. He blamed Dr Stark for that because of the multitude of cat nicknames the man seemed to endlessly be able to come up with. He was quite happy with himself too, he and Dr Stark had had some very interesting conversations, especially after the genius had realised he had a PhD in engineering and bemoaned T'Challa for hiding his sciencey side. He'd even asked how many doctorates the man had and got a casual shrug that he stopped counting after a while, apparently Rhodey kept count. Even of his honorary titles.

Dr Stark's phone trilled at them when they were deep in conversation, his hands flying as he manipulated the blue hologram he'd been showing T'Challa of his nano tech housing for the Arc reactors, that because of them being made out of vibranium and being phase locked to just him, he was finally able to install arc reactors in places that needed electricity but couldn't have it or afford it. Before he'd had his hands tied as he didn't trust anyone else to get their hands on the arc reactor, not when they could be so easily weaponised, the way his hands shook slightly as he'd said that had made T'Challa think there was a sad story there, but he did not pry. Nor did he mention Siberia. Maybe at a second meeting. Shuri might say he was incapable of tact, but he had some sense.

He did not want to ruin his excitement as he spoke of bringing electricity to schools and hospitals in Africa and how much of a difference it was making already. He really did care about the people his tech was helping and T'Challa wondered just how the media and his supposed friends could think so little of a man that was so happy about freely giving power away when he could have easily used it to make a lot more money or even just kept the tech in America. He got the feeling he did a lot in America too than just wasn't talked about. When the phone went off however T'Challa noticed the wince when he saw who was calling him.

"Pep!"

T'Challa leaned back so as not to intrude on the obviously angry, shouting woman on the phone. Some of the excited energy that had been bursting around him dimmed and he hunched in on himself which made T'Challa frown, he noticed Laura frowning too. Even Okoye was. Dr Stark seemed oblivious to them all.

"It's fine Pep, I only noticed the tagged on amendments about intelligence on the way. That didn't cause any fire at SI did it?"

Ah, Pepper, his CEO, must be angry that he allowed him inclusion as a non human under the Accords. He had thought it was a stand of solidarity with others and had been impressed that he had chosen to do so.

"Pep. Are you calling to yell at me for good things? Because I just ate a lot of food, I'm sleepy and confused. Also T'Challa and Laura are laughing at me now."

He finished up the call with Pepper, still hunched on himself. T'Challa and Laura practically pounced after to cheer him up. Which was by T'Challa asking Tony to order everything on the dessert menu so he could try things he'd never heard of. Tony also ordered more for 'the kids.'

"Ah, Laura, I heard you have three kids? I'm sure they will enjoy all of this."

"Oh they definitely will, my two will as well, and when Peter comes over he'll be in heaven, that boy loves Italian food."

"Oh, I didn't know you have children?"

T'Challa was racking his brain but no, he couldn't remember anything about children, not in their numerous reports over the years, his father had kept a close watch on the Starks. There was more about how Dr Stark didn't have an heir, even in his playboy days.

"Well, I'm their legal guardian at the moment but Harley is on at me to sort out the paperwork. Their mother passed away when I was in the Coma, I met Harley years ago, little kid saved my life, helped me when I was in a bad place. So I stuck around as the weird uncle but only select people knew. Luckily Rhodey knew as they turned up when I was still under. "

"I imagine that was a bit of a shock for him!"

Laura grinned, T'Challa was utterly dumbstruck to be honest.

"Harley is 14, Tara is 7. Their father walked out years ago. They're both scarily smart and they both have a knack for putting adults in their place "

Dr Stark had that soft smile again, Laura did too as he switch the hologram over to a folder than was utterly filled with pictures with kids everywhere. Laura pointed out Cooper and Lilah and baby Nate. He supposed Dr Stark had moved Laura near him in the compound so all the kids formed a tight knit, large group. Having superheroes for parents could be isolating he supposed.

"Cassie, That Scott Lang's kid, has joined us now. I think she'll take a while to come out of her shell, they moved a lot trying to dodge Ross and only recently decided it's just safer at the compound. Especially when I'm actively hunting the bastard now.

"I'm sure she'll settle in just fine Tony. When Cooper and Lilah were nervous about the new place and so many people, we were quite isolated on the farm, Tony dedicated himself into making everything perfect for them. He's now Uncle Tony."

"Who was the other boy?"

"Ah, that's Peter another stray I found, brought home, fed and never leaves."

The grin on his face says that he's pretty okay about this. T'Challa is impressed that he's willing to take so many kids in. Not many people would be willing to dedicate so much of themselves to other people's kids. Peter looks somewhat familiar but he can't place it.

"Sounds life he fits right in."

"Oh he does, he lives with his Aunt May during the week and spend most weekends and holidays with us, occasional weekdays too, the 3 of them have rooms in my apartment and I have so many little desks in my lab it's adorable."

"He even got Lilah a purple soldering iron and everything."

"Oh she is a whizz at disassembling anything. Blink and it's in pieces. We're working on putting things back together, luckily Tara excels at that."

"Sounds very chaotic. Like you have 6 versions of my sister…"

T'Challa finds himself suddenly happy there is only one Shuri and wonders if Dr Stark would mind taking her in with his hoard occasionally.

"Oh it is, but it's awesome."

They worked their way through a shocking amount of desserts whilst Dr Stark and Laura showed him so many kid photos it was slightly crazy and told him about the antics the hyper hoard got up to in the compound. He packed up a huge amount of desserts to take home and Zazz seemed impressed by how much they'd put away. He took some of the desserts he thought Shuri might like too. The trip back to the Accords building seemed very fast but that might have been because all of them were a biscuit away from a food coma. Dr Stark exited the quinjets to shake hands with T'Challa on the roof. Much to the absolute joy of the press. They got even worse when he pulled him in for a hug that T'Challa returned. T'Challa did not see his debt to the man as fully paid, but this was a good start. If anything it had given him more reasons and a little more guilt to now he'd started to get to know the real person.

Getting to know the small genius was a flurry of conversations and facts that he would never have put together with him. He knew from his sister that he wasn't the man the media portrayed, but actually getting to see him, know him, was different. How he seemed to flip from doting father to utter genius was amusing, he could definitely understand now why he and his sister had struck such a good friendship. Shuri was lightyears ahead of most people and rarely found someone who could keep up with her in a conversation, multi-taskers rarely could, one of the reasons he had been able to keep up with Dr Stark was all the practice he'd gotten with Shuri. Switching conversation as soon as something else caught their fancy.

He didn't hang around much after they'd gotten back. Everything was finished for the day, he stuck around just long enough to check on the changed agenda that didn't shock him one bit. Without Ross around to pointlessly block Dr Stark's amendments, they were up next. During the trip back to Wakanda, he decided to doze for a little bit instead of flying like normal. It had been a long, utterly boring and then surprising day, he was full of amazingly indulgent food and he was happily sleepy.

He knew that Shuri would be waiting on him when he got home. Although, thinking about it, she probably knew what was planned today, which was why he'd found himself in a boring, pointless Accords meeting in the first place. There had been no amendments penciled for today that they were interested in, it was already stuff that was finished being gone over again. So yeah, she set him up. Not that he can complain, he had fun. He hoped Dr Stark enjoyed his gift when he got home too. The man deserved it, he'd known he did a lot but hadn't truly understood the scope of how much until today.

That he had two full-time jobs at SI and the Avengers, as an Avenger himself and being the sole creator of their gear and training equipment, he also seemed to be the sole Avenger who dealt with the press and dealt with reparations which was practically two more full time jobs. Then there was all of his charity work and as he said, his 'side projects' that could easily be described as someone else's life work. And he had the time to raise two children, occasionally three and help with four others? Even now he had a feeling there was somehow more not mentioned. T'Challa wondered how he did it, he occasionally felt he was losing himself to running his country and the Accords, the idea of dealing with the words press had been weighing on him greatly. He'd have to speak to Dr Stark and find out how he managed it all. For now however, he'll nap until Shuri undoubtedly rudely awakens him when he gets home. Before he drifts off he has a flashback to the last time Shuri woke him up and immediately sets an alarm.


	12. Chapter 12 - Uncomfortable

**Uncomfortable Revelations **

**Shuri POV **

**12 September**

Trying to occupy yourself when you are waiting for your brother to take his sweet time getting back to Wakanda was much trickier after her Wolf found his way to therapy. She had occupied herself for a while in the group chat with the compound teens that she'd somehow found herself invited into. According to Harley she was one of them _'in spirit if not in physicality.' _

They were loving the pictures of Laura and Dr Stark. Coop was ecstatic that their kick arse mom was finally getting to _flex her claws _so to speak and she had to agree. Comparing her to the picture they'd sent to her of them back at the farm, she has definitely come out of her shell and was utterly thriving!

When Peter added the picture of her brother hugging Dr Stark it took pretty much her entire self control not to have it appear on the television in the idiots villa. She did however decide to maybe print a version and put it up in the lab, although the chances of Rogers seeing such a thing had drastically decreased since his grounding. Oh sorry, house arrest.

She was not at all highly amused that her brother had effectively grounded Captain America. It almost made up for inviting them into Wakanda.

_Almost. _

Considering the man _still _had not offered T'Challa an apology for lying to them about when happened, she had a feeling that he was going to be _grounded _for a long, long time.

Her Wolf was trying not to be too happy over the situation as he was conflicted. His memories told him one thing but he was feeling another. Rogers didn't seem to realise it, but if he kept this up, he was going to lose him all together. Rogers was only getting by on fumes, dregs of memories in his mind. Eventually her Wolf would grow tired and give up, if the Captain put some actual effort in, things might be different. She had tried not to push him to a conclusion, he knew her stance on the idiots, but she'd made it clear that she did not expect him to feel the same and even if he decided to become best friends with Wanda, she would support him all the way. She might monitor the Witch however, she really did not trust her.

Glancing at her beads she checked to see how long T'Challa had until he got home and was practically vibrating in her seat. She should have gone today. But she didn't want to reschedule a session on him. His therapist had informed her that consistency is vital. So she had set things up for T'Challa and decided to live vicariously through her brother. Something that is hard to do when he takes ages to return home.

Now T'Challa had met Stark properly, she could potentially be organising a trip for herself at some point. Not too soon as she didn't want to abandon her Wolf without a sanctuary from the idiots. Maybe she could convince the others to join Dr Stark when he next goes to an Accords meeting and then she'd fiddle with T'Challa calendar again. Organising today had been hilariously easy. She knew school was back in, but Dr Stark knew a Sorcerer, maybe he could Portal Dr Stark, Harley Peter and Tara for a weekend. Laura could come too with Cooper, Lilah and Nibbles as Tony had taken to calling Nate. Mostly because he was apparently one of the few people who could calm him whilst he was teething.

She rewatched the video from earlier, this time looking for signs that he was not as healthy as he gave off. She'd noticed him listing to the side and gripping the podium towards the end only because he suddenly was only talking with one of his hands. His smile never faltered however and his voice was just as strong at the end than it had been when he'd begun.

Peter was concerned, but apparently he took her brother for dinner so hopefully Dr Stark was fine. She knew that she was worrying herself into a corner and that unless the man literally passed out on a video call, getting information out of him about his health was near impossible. Even then he'd probably avoid it. He didn't want to worry her. Little did he know that this constant state of not knowing was infuriating and concerning, it lead to a lot of worrying.

She finally got a notification that her brother was back and was heading her way, which meant she didn't have to hunt the man down. Good. Seems he can be smart occasionally.

Happily when he arrived, it was with 4 bags of dessert.

"I bring a lot of desserts to make up for being late."

"Hm, I accept your offerings, now, give them to me and tell me how everything went!"

She dove into the bag, pulling out the various desserts and looking for the ones Peter had recommended she try first. They had also started teaching her Italian to add to her repertoire of languages as apparently all 3 of them were fluent. Dr Stark had taught Harley and Tara years ago and Peter had been learning it in school. Dr Stark and the other two kids had taken over his tutelage, and now Lilah and Cooper were getting the same treatment. It had evolved from Dr Stark wanting to pass down a language close to his heart to all the compound kinds must speak Italian. It was nice that they had included her with it.

Harley said they he and Peter were going to try something more obscure next so that would be interesting. The current method of choosing was to write down loads of languages on bits of paper. Put them in a bowl, shake it and pick one. The old method had been throwing darts at aboard but that had been quickly scrapped when the kids just kept getting the ocean and Dr Stark's aim was too good to call it random.

"Well, I'm assuming you watched the session on TV? Dr Stark rather ruthlessly took down Secretary Ross and several others from what I gather. After that we went to the restaurant via Quinjet. His stealth tech is quite impressive."

"Ah, so you get the sense he would be terrifying if he had our access to Vibranium too?"

"I would dear sister but I've grown accustomed to you."

"Well I'm taking that as a compliment."

"I thought you would, have you met his AI yet?"

"FRIDAY or CERBERUS? I've spoken to FRIDAY occasionally during video chats with Dr Stark."

"I only met FRIDAY, She is quite fascinating, all those years we were trying to get an idea of the capabilities of his AIs, I'd never considered them feeling and having emotional responses. It was quite fascinating speaking to her and she liked me too."

"Awww, you flirting with Dr Stark's AI?"

Her brother just scowled to her before snipping the pastry that she had been reaching for. At her pout he relented and wisely gave her half. She slipped out her StarkPhone to send Peter a picture of the dessert feast T'Challa has brought home.

" Peter has given me a list of desserts to try."

"Dr Stark mentioned him, I hadn't realised he'd taken on so many children."

"Oh they're all great, I was on a video call with him weeks ago when he had to dash off chasing Tara and Lilah, then Harley and Peter just appeared and invited me to the group chat. They'd apparently set up the girls to distract Dr Stark just to invite me."

Peter sent a picture of their kitchen, where he had apparently painstakingly displayed everything Dr Stark had brought home. She thought it was mostly impressive that none of the others had stolen anything as he worked.

"I discovered from one of the aides at the Accords Council that he completed his first PHD at 17 too, he even showed us pictures of the AI he developed for it."

"Oh Dum-E? He's adorable, Harley likes to play fetch with him."

She flicked back through the group chat pictures to one Peter had taken of Harley and Dum-E playing fetch with a spanner as Dr Stark was working in the background and showed it to her brother.

"Huh, his workshop seems a very active place, he's definitely different that I suspected. Much different than the last time we met, but I was.. Distracted then."

Shuri side steps that, she really doesn't want to think on that too much, about why he'd been distracted but also what those fights led to.

"So, how did he seem?"

" It's hard to get a read on him, he has 2 hands and I don't think he's blind."

"Yeah, I noticed on video chats he's suddenly no longer hiding his left hand and I could have told you he wasn't blind! Watching him navigate his lab is like walking in chaos."

"I wasn't sure, I just kept seeing that picture in the hospital with his eyes bandages. When we were discussing the kids he told me Peter is doing extra projects with Dr Cho, I looked her up and wondered if her research on synthetic skin might have something to do with his hand.."

Shuri scowled, at this rate, she'd never know for sure. She supposed she could ask the others. But that felt a bit like asking new friends to give her information their father didn't want to pass on. It would put them in an awkward position. So she'd just avoided it.

"A few times he did look a little pale, but he carried on with his speech as if he was in perfect health. I think I only noticed because I was looking."

"So we still know virtually nothing."

"There were a few things. He always knew where the Dora were, even Okoye. No matter how well she vanished into the shadows, he pinpointed her easily."

Hmm, well that was interesting, and it was going to drive Okoye mad trying to get past him.

"You think he's enhanced somehow? I know in his speech he classed himself under non humans but that was about his intelligence."

"He was definitely baseline human in July. I heard his heartbeat on occasion and he had quite a severe arytmia that worsened when he was stressed."

"Did you hear that today?"

"No, but I swear I could hear something else, it didn't sound like any pacemaker I've ever heard, but I doubt he'd use anything standard, it sounded similar to his power source."

"Okay, that is very strange. Anything else to make you think he's enhanced now?"

"Well he ate more than me at the restaurant."

Shuri eyebrows shot up at that, because her brother could really put away a lot of food when he wanted too especially after becoming enhanced himself.

"That definitely is interesting."

"Hm, I think we are going to be left guessing unless he chooses to tell us."

"I guess, it is frustrating but I'm not going to force the issue. Oh, by the way, Barnes was in the lab when Dr Stark started his speech!"

"Hm? How did he react?"

"He seemed relieved at first on seeing him, so I'm assuming he is carrying a lot of guilt from whatever happened at Siberia that you still know more about than me."

She leveled a glower at him but T'Challa just glanced away, suddenly very interested in the floor.

"Hm. That. Well, if Barnes wants to tell you he will. "

"I think he is also beginning to realise that Rogers and his band of misfits are not the best people to get facts about Dr Stark. He had been told Dr Stark was close with Secretary Ross! The only thing they had right was his work on the Accords but that was viewed as a 'means of controlling the Avengers. "

Her brothers scowl and scoff at that amused her, Rogers definitely had an interesting world view. In that it was utterly self centred.

"Typical. I think Rogers believes he and his team are the only non humans and the only heroes in existence. I bet they still haven't even read the Accords."

"Doubtful, Barnes is going to however, he wanted me to keep him updated on amendments too. He's also doing a lot of research into the political climate and how things work now. Rogers hadn't even told him about the data dump. I think he's interested in finding out more about Dr Stark too."

"It's good that he is interested in how things are now, better than Roger's who seemed to have little interest in updating himself. I was going to ask Dr Stark about him but.."

"I'm hoping that sentence ends 'But I didn't because that would be an extremely awkward thing to do on practically a first meeting'? "

"Yes, I didn't. I hope to speak to him at some point about them, or maybe to Rhodes? How Rogers was a team leader for 5 years and has so little knowledge of dealing with the press, or _anything _is concerning. Did you notice that after the Avengers are involved they are practically scatter in the wind? "

"Leaving Dr Stark and Stark Industries on clean up. No. I utterly did not notice that."

Her deadpan delivery made her brother chuckle.

"Oh, Barnes did say to warn you. When they, because it is a when, at least one of them will stumble onto this, you know it."

"Yeah, they're going to be annoying about it aren't they. "

"Well yes, but not because of Dr Stark. How do you think the little angry archer man is going to react to what Laura said. Apparently he's already whining about not being allowed to '_ rescue' _her.."

He could almost see her brother playing back Laura's part of the speech in his head, eyes widening. They were going to have to increase security to keep the angry man from running off half cocked, causing them trouble in his ridiculous endeavours.

"Oh Bast."

She would feel bad for him, but she was still slightly annoyed at him for allowing them all in. The White Wolf was one thing, but the others following like strays, he should have kicked them out months ago.

**Barnes POV **

**_17th September_**

Today's data draw with the glasses had been quite a hard one. It didn't help that his mind was still spinning before they even started. Wings had finally managed to give him a run down of everything that happened, and he didn't know what to do with it. Or that Steve had been on at Wings to not tell him. He was mad at Steve. Spitting mad, and not just about what happened. He tried to keep it from him, it should have been Steve telling him. As if having gaps in his memory was good for him?! Who does that to someone?! So he'd been a bit off kilter before he'd even put the glasses on today. That they were moving through worse and worse memories didn't help.

He'd worried they'd result in headaches or something after hearing of the earlier versions, but he was fine. He did get a bit of emotional whiplash from seeing so many memories whip past him. So fast generally that he didn't get much from them. They were working on the harder ones now that we're finding the Hydra memories. More than he even thought he had in his mind! He couldn't recall them, but they were still there.

What was hard was the the glimpses he was getting from these memories were generally awful. Blood, pain, death, torture. All that he expected. What was unexpected was the additional nightmare fuel from the fractured memories. Blank faces were more nerve racking than he'd expected. Shuri had told him that they had to do more draws than they suspected because his brain was practically uncharted territory, the outside contractor, Anthony, was apparently working with the data from each draw to code him specific algorithms. He had no idea who this person was but he was honestly surprised at their dedication to help him. Between this stranger and all the effort Shuri was putting in? It honestly was giving him confidence and drive to keep going with it. The additional code had made today's draw go a little faster too, so their work was helping him. Which meant that no matter how weird the memories got, he'd keep going.

They seemed to believe in him, even though he hadn't even met one of them, so he could do this.

Shuri wasn't sure if it was the chair wiping his memories or whatever hydra did to create the Asset Subroutine, as Shuri had taken to calling it, that was causing problems. That part of his mind was more of a computer program, that was wiped clean and took in commands and had programmed responses. She said some of the memories were damaged in the same way you'd expect a CCTV tape that had been wiped and recorded over multiple times. After a while it just isn't going to work as well. Images layer over or don't record well.

For him, this meant that some memories were... strange. The faces were the first information to be corrupted it seemed. Seeing memories with whited out faces, occasionally even stretched into nightmarish horrific ways was… not fun. It made sense, in a weird way, the way people looked was unimportant to the asset, only the mission mattered. Other people around were unimportant but surroundings were. Some data was extremely detailed, it was weird seeing the product of his Hypervigilance in a memory. Shuri had commented on how strange it must feel seeing like that, somethings fading back whilst others being almost loud.

Especially as the asset had been able to direct that Hypervigilance where as he was left to it set on high for _everything _or when it glitched, leaving important things so low down he didn't notice them. He'd been working on that with his therapist however who told him other people had Hypervigilance too, that he wasn't alone with this strange way of viewing the world.

Today he was trying to preempt Steve coming to his room post therapy.

It always felt like an ambush, and an interrogation, especially after he found out Wings was planning on filling him in on his memory gaps. Which was why he was sat in the common room on one of the armchairs. He'd shifted the furniture around so its back was against the wall now, both exits and large windows were easy to see. This way no one could sit next to him or come up behind him. Wings was in the larger love seat next to him, feet up on the table eating his way through a plate of little chocolate cupcakes that he had made earlier.

Wings had suggested he get more hobbies, to branch out and his therapist agreed. He'd asked Wings for ideas, and watching the man demolish the cupcakes he wondered if it had all been a plot to obtain baked goods. He'd built up a sort of friendship with Wings these last few days. It was built on occasionally insulting each other, pranks, but also in depth talks about their feelings. It was kind of weird, but they both were unimpressed with Steve lately and they bonded over that. Also he was reading the book he recommended which made him all kinds of excited.

He had the second book on his lap now, he had the following 3 in his room in Cyrillic. As Wings couldn't read that he'd found the 5 books in English for him. Wakandas library was extensive so it had been very easy. Wings had been slightly intimidated by the sheer size of the 5 books stacked up at first but had seemed oddly determined to give them ago. Clint had mocked them for having a book club, he'd just shrugged and now they had 'Book Club' meetings once a day. It usually consisted of them quietly reading together somewhere and ranting about the characters. It also counts as him socialising so Steve can't complain.

"Urgh, are you two girls hosting your little book club here today?"

"Fuck off Clint. This book is really good."

Wings didn't even look up from the book as he flipped of Clint. He raised the book so he could hide his smirk behind it. He glanced at the clock and realised why Clint, and now Wanda was joining them. Wanda sat far too close to Clint, practically draping herself over him. He'd noticed her doing that a lot lately to Clint and Steve. She'd left him alone ever since he'd barked at her in Russain two days ago when he'd just got home from therapy and she tried to drape herself over him. He shuddered at the memory. That part of his mind, the one that was angry all the time at first but now seemed to be.. Changing somewhat. Thoughts came to him, questions too. He was still trying to ignore it, but that time it had been impossible to ignore.

It had practically screamed at him to RUN. He ended up snapping in Russian for her to stop fucking touching him and she'd jumped back as if burned. A strange look irritation flash across her face before he swore she slipped on that doe eyed mask, she'd teared up and fled from him. The lecture he'd gotten from Steve had been worth it however.

She also hadn't tried to touch him like that again. He did get strange, calculating looks from her however, like she was looking for something, but they'd be gone in a flash. He was completely convinced that the innocent damsel routine was a mask now and she was a lot more calculating underneath.

Steve wouldn't hear any of it, just telling him that Wanda is a good kid who'd had a terrible life and they had to protect her to make up for Stark's wrong doings that had ruined her life. Apparently he'd killed her parents but he had no idea how, no one explained and after he discovered she seemed to be manipulating Steve and Clint, he had to wonder about it. Everything about her seemed perfectly sculpted to get people like Steve on her side, sometimes he wondered if she was trained for it, it was just too perfect. He remembered that Hydra used to do that, get young women mostly, but men too, that looked all innocent and harmless. Train them up on what buttons to press to use specific people. He didn't know if she was some kind of Sokovian version of that, or maybe she was just naturally manipulative to ensure they'd protect her? Maybe he was just thinking about it too much.

Tic Tac came next and wandered closer to them, sitting next to Wings in the love seat. He wondered where Steve was and realised the punk was probably knocking on his door, waiting to interrogate him from today's session.

He really didn't want to stick around for movie night, yeah he was getting _better _at being around multiple people, but generally, he preferred to be in groups of 3 or 4 maximum. They were currently at 5. If he left now however it would open him up for Steve. If he stayed it would be uncomfortable but he could at least say he'd stayed for movie night. Even when Clint and Wanda were whispering and insulting them. Even Wings, especially since he did not agree with Clint that Stark much be torturing his wife or whatever bizarre idea they had come up with now.

"Hey Barnes, have I shown you my little girl?"

He shook his head at Scott, slipping the bookmark into his book and putting it in his bag that he had taken to carrying around everywhere. It was very handy! No matter what Clint said.

Tic Tac brought up that Instagram thing that everyone seemed to use. He didn't quite understand it, it just seemed to be a weird collection of pictures that people added lots of peculiar hash tags too. He'd had a look himself and found that the #AvengersCompound spanned multiple accounts of people who lived there and school tour groups, in what he could see as an attempt to humanise the superheroes. (From what he had found out during his research on the Accords, it was certainly needed.)

Wings switched to his tablet, checking out the same Instagram tag he was checking earlier by the looks of it. He got up to grab himself a drink and noticed that Sam had found his way to the picture that Shuri had shown him before they watched the Accords Council. He had a feeling this was going to go one of two ways. One, he'll just see the picture and everything will be fine. Two, Sam will want to find out why Stark was suited up with Laura after being in seclusion for so long, find the video and then want to watch it. He was surprised it had taken this long really.

Lately, Wings had become extremely interested in tracking things back in America. So there was a good chance he'd find the video himself, he just wondered what he'd do with it and if he could get in there first and try to delay the inevitable.

Wings interest in the Accords had not gone unnoticed and had somehow added to Wanda's dismay, from what he'd overheard, she was still more annoyed at Clint's hogging of the laptop just to social media stalk his wife however. Not seeming to realise she helped stoke this obsession of his wife being captured by the evil dragon Dr Stark. Lately she'd been suggesting that his wife was cheating on him with Dr Stark, if this was her plan to make him stop, it didn't seem to be working and he'd barely seen the guy without the laptop since. He carried it _everywhere _with him.

He glanced at Wings screen when he passed to sit back down and sighed internally. Sam already had the video up, his brow knit in concentration as he was reading the attached comments. He was about to say something when Steve entered the room, the double take at seeing him apparently sat for movie night, it was highly amusing. He held up a hand to wave, which everyone else, well, all the nice people, accepted to mean the he didn't want to talk right now. His therapist told him that going non verbal now and then is not the worst thing in the world, he can still communicate in ASL after all, it was just occasionally hard to get words out and forcing it made it worse. Steve sadly took his non verbal moments as a personal challenge. That if Steve made him talk it meant he was superior than the Wakandan mental health team. A team that specialises in PTSD. It was mind boggling, but he'd noticed Steve was still thinking of mental health back from the 40s. He'd tried to get him to see how far it came, but he was having none of it. He was just stubbornly holding onto life from the 40s. If he could bring him forward then things would get better he suspected.

"So, what movie are we watching today, Buck you got a preference?"

He sighed, shaking his head. He actually did. But Steve didn't know ASL and got offended if people translated for him. He shook his head and wondered if he'd ever get to watch the Lord of the Rings films Shuri had recommended it.

Maybe he'd ask her to put it on his computer or tablet.

**Sam POV**

He was surprised when he saw Barnes sit back down after getting up. Everyone was gathering for movie night which meant Steve would be showing up soon and lately he'd been vanishing moments before the super soldier turned up.

It was actually a warning system for him.

If Steve was coming, Barnes would blend into the shadows or you know, hurl himself out of the nearest window.

Literally.

On more than one occasion, Sam had seen Barnes scaling the building to get to his bedroom without walking past Steve. After the first time he'd choked on his coffee watching the fucking Winter Soldier wink at him from the second story window before continuing up as if he wasn't casually climbing a freaking building one handed, he'd realised something about Barnes no one had mentioned before.

When he wasn't brooding, hiding or ranting in impressively dramatic (and not at all scary) Russian, getting hyper about books or murder strutting around as he pleased… the guy was a fucking troll.

It was a nice break to the tension, and as far as he could tell, only he and Scott saw it.

Shaking his head he turned his attention back to the video he was watching on mute. He'd watched quite a few of the Accords Sessions now, trying to get caught up but he was woefully behind, when he was surrounded by people he muted it and read people's opinions about what was being said. It was usually a nice spread across the spectrum, he'd discovered that the political climate had fractured almost as much as the team. Their were Team Cap and Team Iron man people who passionately argued about things when they obviously didn't have 90% of the information on. But they were willing to go on TV about why _they_ were right. It was kind of terrifying.

This session however had him thinking he'd have to admit he'd been watching because it seemed Stark had come out of seclusion. He considered just excusing himself to watch it in his room but that would be cowardly.

Why was it always him that brought bad news!?

And what was fucking worse, there was Laura, looking extremely happy with herself and reminiscent to the same fear Pepper Potts caused in him.

"Urm, before we watch the film, I thought you guys should see this.."

Barnes started signing at him almost immediately.

Bad idea! _Bad idea _!

Well that did not bode well.

Also made him realise their resident brood-master extraordinaire was apparently better caught up with the Accords than he was. _Interesting_. Before he could back out however Steve had already switched the channel for him to cast the video and he only had that or a video Barnes had sent him about a skateboarding dog and he had a feeling the latter would not fly. He shrugged at Barnes who face palmed as he cast the video onto the TV.

"What the fuck is this Wilson?"

"It's a video from an Accords Council session."

Clint looked bored and Wanda shot him an absolutely evil look, her eyes flashed red before she turned away from him.

"And why would we want to see anything about that?"

OK, so now a part of him wanted to play the video to piss Wanda off.

"Because Steve wanted updates on Stark and Barton wanted updates on his wife."

The explosion of demands for information was quite amusing, Scott was the only one actually watching the video, Barnes was covering his face but he looked like he was going to burst out laughing. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad having not heard what was on the video, only having seen them enter and read about them causing a stir.

Tony Stark opening the double doors dramatically managed to draw everyone's attention to the screen. As it had in the council he noticed, whilst he was still conflicted on his feelings about Stark, he had to admit, the man knew how to set a scene. Laura walked next to him, and Clint's strangled noises was expected.

_"Hello everyone, the rumors of my demise, retirement or whatever the new one of the week is, have been wildly exaggerated. I hope I haven't missed too much?" _

Wanda was practically gagging, Steve was on the edge of his seat and Clint was transfixed on his wife, looking as if he'd never seen her before. Scott's was just watching interested and Barnes looked like he'd kicked back to watch the chaos unfold. Partially watching the screen but his attention was on the people in this room.

He'd watched Stark work the crowd a few times and it was always quite fun. Barnes was definitely more interested in them, but even he was still keeping an eye on the screen.

_"Unfortunately I am not here to bring glad tidings. I'm here to present to you multiple violations for someone under the Accords as they're regarding Inhuman, Enhanced Humans-" _

Steve cut in, obviously annoyed that Stark was talking about the Accords.

"I can't believe he is still working for Ross and these ridiculous Accords. We aren't even there for them to use against us, I was hoping that they'd -"

"Of course he's working with that slime bag, you told me he was compromised, Stark never admits he's wrong and now he's dragged my wife down with him… She barely even looks like-"

"He's probably been living it up with him this whole time and violations? His prison was a violation."

Wanda practically hissed the last part, her hands around her throat, probably remembering that collar they'd had her in. Everyone was talking over each other, he could barely hear the TV, Scott looked irritated at that part and Barnes just signed Told you so at him.

_"- happy to do my duty under the Accords to bring this to you as a signed member. Even though I am still technically signed off on medical leave, I thought this too important to wait much longer. " _

"Wonder why he's on medical leave, he looks okay?"

Scott mumbled and Barnes was signing at him again so he just ignored the scoffing and frankly, bitching from Wanda. Steve and Clint seemed to have been struck silent although he suspected for different reasons.

Watch his hands.

Well. That was _informative… _and not at all creepy, he just nodded and focused on the TV.

_"I have petabytes of data, videos, written, everything required and I will be honest. If this is swept away and ignored, again, as this information is legally my own. I will release it onto the Internet." _

Clint scoffed again, looking angry now, he remembered how enraged Stark had been about the data dump although he hadn't understood why, Steve had told him that it was the only way and they'd thought everything through. Stark then vanished and ignored all contact, appearing weeks later looking utterly haggard, but that might have been because he'd recently undergone serious heart surgery, it looked like he had barely slept the entire time and was even angrier.

_"We don't appreciate threats Dr Stark." _ _"Dr Maloj, I don't not wish to threaten your lovely self or anyone here. But when you have watched the videos you will understand my fervour. Plus precedent was set after the fall of SHIELD was it not? I do not believe that an Amendment to that section regarding releasing of information has been tabled yet." _ _"I thought you were against the data dump Dr Stark" _ _"I was, and still am Mr Davenport. It was reckless, too fast and the innocent were hurt. I assure you, this will not be a reckless act. It will not be an Ill conceived idea born of desperation." _

What?! Who was hurt? Steve hadn't mentioned that anyone would get hurt except Hydra agents. Steve was staring at the screen, ignoring his questioning look and he decided that he'd put it to the site for now but he'd definitely was going to find out about this at some point!

"So when he does it it's fine, When Nat does it he goes into a snit!"

Scott and Steve were shushing him this time, Tony spoke rather quickly and they were missing huge chunks with Clint's interjections.

"Who cares what he's saying anyway! It's just Stark rambling on, he just enjoys the sound of his own voice."

Sam wondered if he should point out that this is pretty normal from all the talks he's watched of the Council meetings so far. One guy spoke for a solid 30 minutes the other day before getting to his point, Stark was just drawing people in, getting them invested.

_"Human rights violations are never pretty, even if we are talking about people who are seen as less than human by some. Many do include humans who because of this man have been forced into enhancements, mutations, changes to their body against their will. Bodily autonomy seems a fleeting idea, as long as he can create and control his own little private army of super humans, he doesn't care who suffers horrendously, human, mutant, enhanced, inhuman. - " _

" Considering what happened to me on the raft, he should be reporting himself "

"Be quiet everyone, this seems very serious and like something we should be invested in. "

He's not sure if he imagined Barnes rolling his eyes or not, but as he knew who this was about, it was curious. Wanda was pouting at Steve who was more focused on the screen.

_"- endangerment of minors, ethics were just not involved anywhere and aspects of this are straight up torture to those he kept. To those who escaped their lives were systematically destroyed, reputations ruined, family's threatened, all to force his victims into an easier point of capture. This has spanned several years, in several countries and includes a frankly terrifying amount of property damage. This is coming from me, the man who cleaned up after the Avengers for years. Including New York. This individual - " _

"What the fuck does he mean 'cleaning_ up after the Avengers'."_

"Probably just throwing his blood money around."

"Stark did tell me once about charities he'd set up to help people who were hurt by our… What?"

Sam trailed off when he realised he was being stared at in varying degrees of astonishment to rage.

"What the fuck were we supposed to do? Let aliens take over to save some property damage?"

"Wait, wait, I think he's talking about us..?"

Scott's managed to derail that potential argument nicely.

_"- detained people without adequate warrants in the illegal prison and claimed to be doing it on behalf of yourselves. " _

" I thought Stark put us in that jail? "

"He did!"

_"I am of course talking about one Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross." _

Wanda's screech and Stark's naming of Ross happened at pretty much the same time and tension in the room skyrocketed.

_"- fugitive status of certain individuals and Thaddeus drive to bring them in. Of course in that drive he subverted the Accords and the will of the original 117 countries, now a fantastic 139 with 2 more ready to join any day." _

"That.. That's a lot of countries. I.. I thought this was an American thing?"

Poor Scott, he actually looked kind of green. He himself was kind of shook to discover Stark apparently had nothing to do with them ending up on the raft… And that their being held prisoner was illegal. Damn, how much difference could it have made of Stark had gotten them out legally? Would they be hiding in Wakanda? If they'd just stopped for a second instead of reacting with out all the information..

_"- shield to protect civilians and heroes alike, to guard humans, superhuman, inhumans, enhanced humans, humans with unusual qualities such as very large intellects, which by the way, is quite the compliment. Thank you. Also -" _

Sam's eyes widened at that, Stark had just allowed himself to be classed under the Accords as a non human, that was a pretty big deal.

"He can make anything about himself."

Barnes looked unimpressed with Wanda's sneers, he wasn't either but he realised that until recently, he probably would have joined in. When he'd still felt at fault for sending Stark to Siberia and Steve getting hurt.

_"-to take our mistakes of the past, never forget them, never cover them up, never forget the lives lost, accountability, security. Not a subversion of these great ideals put on paper by the late King T'Chaka and taken up by his son. This shield won't become a noose as long as I'm breathing, from standing in front of you or from my hospital bed, I assure you, I will not give up." _

That was when he remembered what Barnes had said, sure enough Stark was gripping the edge of the stand hard enough his hand looked white. He also looked like he'd paled a little. It was subtle and he wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been told to look. No one else mentioned it. Maybe he wasn't as healthy as they presumed? How had Barnes spotted it when he didn't even know the man?

Wanda was stroking Clint's hair as his wife stepped forward, the man leaning forward in his seat and he did feel pity for the man. Even if he had been trying on his last nerve lately.

_" I'm sure none of you will recognise me, except as Dr Stark's amazing new personal assistant of course. " _

"WHAT?!"

_"My soon to be ex husband-" _

"Oh my god, this isn't happening, she can't do that! Not with me here! What about the kids?!"

_"- Ross sent multiple teams of heavily armed, highly trained men to my farm. A farm I lived on alone with three children, my youngest had not long turned one year old. The others are seven and thirteen years old. They don't understand what is happening, why a man sent tactical teams to raid our home." _

" Dammit I should have been there!"

Clint was on his feet now, pacing angrily back and forth, ignoring Wanda and Steve's attempts to calm him down. The pointed looks he was getting from Steve didn't help. Turns out rendition 43 of 'I can't be the team counsellor, it's a conflict of interest.' was required.

_"- raided. I don't want to think what might have happened if Tony Stark, 37 hours after waking up from his coma hadn't abandoned his hospital bed to rescue me. Don't worry, I immediately marched him back into it. " _

Could this get much worse. Barnes was looking at him in amusement and now he understood why he'd said this was a bad idea. He'd just thought showing the team Laura and Stark was bad. How was he expected to know Laura would announce her divorce on live TV?!

_"-Me and my children are human, the law failed to protect me, Ironman didn't. We are not the only family he has brought in from the cold. We stand with him as a real protector, not a villain like Thaddeus Ross. " _

Yes. It can apparently always get worse.

Clint just thumped back down on the chair. Staring dumb struck at the TV before standing up to leave, for once not carrying the laptop with him as the press and Councillors exploded into noise. Wanda shot him another glare as if this was his fault.. Clint paused and looked back when Stark spoke again, Sam internally flinched, because it was just in time to see Laura hugging Stark.

_"Thank you for taking the time today to listen to what we had to say. I'll leave you now to hopefully do what should have been done long ago. Whilst I might be gone, I will be watching." _

Clint stormed off to his room, Wanda jumped up and ran to catch up. Scott was glancing around uncomfortably. Steve looked utterly deflated when he looked over to Barnes, he glared.

You could have warned me!

I told you it would be a bad idea.

Then the bastard grins at him and silently takes off towards his room without Steve seeming to notice.

Fabulous.

**Shuri POV**

**_20th September_**

Shuri had been sorting through the latest data Dr Stark had sent over, he'd texted her about sending a small update to the current algorithm he'd constructed based on Barns data draws. But just looking at the file, it was much too big for a patch. At first she wondered if he'd accidentally sent the same file three times but as she brought them up it became pretty obvious what he'd done. It definitely wasn't a patch. She frowned, she still didn't know much about Siberia. Her brother was being infuriatingly tight lipped but she what she did know was that they'd all left injured and it felt like her brother was trying to make up for his part in it, it also seemed like Dr Stark was obsessing somewhat.

Without actually knowing what happened however, she felt like her hands were tied. She decided to give him a call anyway. It was maddening because the two idiots would get along so well, the things that kept other people away would probably be a benefit between them. But nope, they were idiots. Constantly saying the other would hate them!

"What's up Kit-Kat?"

The sight of him however made her forget practically everything because he looked utterly ridiculous, she knew the kids at the compound had a running challenge for what breakfast products they could get on him without him realising it, but usually by the time he came to the lab he'd cleaned up. This time his hair was white with icing sugar

"Had breakfast with the kids did you?"

"Yeaaaahh.. Why?"

"Didn't look in a mirror before you went to the lab either?"

"Dammit, I didn't let anyone near me with Nutella!"

The cloud of icing sugar puffed put around him, leaving him spluttering and coughing on it. Which was utterly hilarious. He bolted to the bathroom giving her a chance to laugh because she'd needed it, and also set it up to send the clip of him sticking his hand into his hair, creating a huge white clouds to puff up to the group chat.

5 minutes later, he reappeared, slightly damp. It was enough to set her off again.

"Yuck it up Princess. So, apart from laughing at me, whats on today's docket."

"Oh you know, the usual joy I feel dealing with integration on your binary systems."

"Ahhh, yeah, that's been keeping me up. Did the last batch of files help any? I think we're getting closer to something that works efficiently."

"T'Challa was fine with version 7, he thinks that we're at version 42 means we are crazy you know."

She rolled her eyes at her brothers confusion that they were still working on it and likely would for a while.

"So far none of the versions have been quick enough to take the coded alterations to the BARF system without sending packets back and forth."

She couldn't argue, she agreed. She even shared Dr Stark's scowl that they'd been forced into sending little packets instead of just being able to make the data available to both of them. It took ages. Neither of them were happy with it being _okay _or just _fine _like her brother said. It might work for dealing with most people but Dr Stark's private systems were much faster, resulting in infuriating traffic jams and actual hours looking at buffering files. Especially the size of the BARF files.

"How is he taking to it anyway? I know it's only been 8 days..? How are you handling it?"

Dr Stark cycled back and forth between not mentioning Barnes existence, which as they were working of BARF was a bit weird, or asking questions and also immediately deflecting.

" Everything is going fine and I'm learning your tech too. How many disciplines did you cross making these damned glasses anyway?"

Tony just flashed a self satisfied grin at her in answer.

" I just finished getting through all the data for your hand and hydra. I think ours is far superior."

"Of course it is, we built it instead of nazis and it isn't a torture device."

Shuri had paled at that before diving to the side and bringing everything he'd sent up on another screen. Eyes widening as her eyes quickly scanned over the information in a new light.

"I… how did I not see this?!"

She wondered if this had anything to do with Barnes refusal of a new limb? Did he think it work hurt as badly as his old one? She felt awful about bringing it up now and knew she'd have to find a way to let him know a new arm wouldn't hurt. She'd make sure of it.

"I've been neck deep in Hydra since DC.. After a while I expect this of them so it was easy to see. If I never have to look at a Hydra file again it will be too soon."

She shook her head, chewing on her nail again. She'd shelve this for later stress.

"Anyway, let's just.. Pin that for now. I'm calling because there was twice the normal amount of data you sent yesterday with the integration codes."

"Huh, oh yeah, I updated the algorithm from the scans you sent, nothing knew."

She squinted at him..

"Tony.."

"You used my name! YES, this means I can eventually get Peter to stop calling me Mr Stark!"

"Tony. You didn't just _'update' _the algorithm. You wrote 3 new ones!"

"Pffft, You say that like it's something big. I still feel bad and this is something I can do from the other side of the planet without ever seeing him. It's perfect. Plus the world is better off without 10 words and a compliment murder-cube."

_'Murder-cube?' _

She just shook her head but was still happy that he was oddly invested in helping her Wolf. Without him this would not be happening, BARF branched over so many different areas that they hadn't even considered bringing together in Wakanda. For her to get to his level of familiarity? To actually write the codes, it would take a while. He just seem to hack a knack for how the mind interacted with the code in the algorithm that she couldn't wrap her head around yet. They each had their expertise and she knew he could admit when she knew better. For example, he had finally gotten rid of those ridiculous segmented panels in the suit. So she could admit when he was the more knowledgeable one. He had brought code to life, code that had emotions, and independent thought and learning.

"That just sounds like a lot of justification to me. He's hopeful about it but the data draws are hitting him hard after, what did you call them, the fluffy bunny levels."

"Ah! That wasn't me. After naming it BARF, FRIDAY and CERBERUS decided I needed help naming things."

"Chief, the first thing people do when you hand them BARF is look at ya like you're crazy and then mentally rename it when talking to patients."

"See what I'm dealing with here Shuri? Sass."

The fact Dr Sta-Tony's AIs had taken over naming things was not that much of a surprise. She'd noticed the data packet names had gotten very literally and occasionally long so she suspected that was FRIDAY.

"Hi CERBERUS! I've not spoken to you yet!"

"He was waiting until we have the integration down, I'm pretty sure he and Fry are going to come and visit you soon."

Shuri squeals and jumps at that because that was going to be fun. Although she wondered what her brother might think of her inviting two rather unknown digital presences into Wakanda. Eh. He invited Captain Spangles.

The latest updates she'd started sending earlier finally came through and she and saw him opening them as she spoke to FRIDAY and CERBERUS. She could tell that FRIDAY was definitely the older sibling and more likely to get involved but CERBERUS had some hilarious ideas.

Tony, damn it was weird calling him that, even in her head, rolled back into frame just as CERBERUS was showing her his alternate designs of cannons and FRIDAY wanted to make it fire glitter.

"8 draws is.. Too much. And scrap the algorithms I sent you, they're tapping out at 50% now, I'd got them up to 83% last night."

"I still don't quite get all the algorithms you're sending, I've been focusing on the draws."

"74 is the magic number. We need a 74% match or the patients mind actively fights the algorithm, significantly lowering chances of dissociation. 95% is the number I prefer things to be at, personally."

"What's the difference as long as the memory is disassociated in the end?"

"Whether Barnes has to watch and live through himself being tortured 3 times or 300 times."

_Yikes!_

"Okay. I won't mock your obsessive coding anymore. Promise. 8 seems to be it for the data draws though, can't you use that?"

"Possibly, but you'd have to switch algorithms with each memory to find out which one works and I'd have to teach you about how they work. Ideally, you have 1 for the whole lot and I just don't have the data to write it."

"What do you need."

"I need the next level up of encoded information. But you're going to have to scour it for potential confidential information, there shouldn't be much at that level but just in case, oh, and get permission to send it."

She could tell he did not look comfortable with this at all. Probably because Barnes didn't know he was involved, they'd spoken about it a few times now. How his drive to help was going against lying to the patient. She learnt early on however that Tony could turn practically anything self deprecating.

"We could just tell him that you designed the glasses and then he can decide what to send. This feels like you are making things harder on yourself."

"It's bad enough that he doesn't know I made the tech, that I'm writing this algorithm based on the first scans would likely send him screaming for the woods. Telling him would screw his chances of being free because Rogers wouldn't allow it. The least I can do is to ensure I'm not snooping or something."

" Still.. "

"The last time I saw him, I tried to kill him Shuri. I'm not exactly proud of that, I should have just tried to kill Rogers. "

That was more information than she'd gotten before but it was still missing something. She'd like to think she'd gotten to know both of these soft hearted, guilt wrecked idiots and them just attacking each other? It didn't track.

" But if you talked? "

" Oh, hell no. No. No in 50 different languages no. I feel guilty for trying to kill him, I feel bad for what happened to him. But Shuri, I can't forgive the man. I'm not that good of a person. Plus, he definitely won't want to talk to me after what I did, I can't put that on him."

" Will you ever tell me what happened in that bunker? I know you fought, I know you were.. Left. But _why _Tony? I think I've gotten to know you quite well these past months and I know what Rogers told my Brother originally, but now he's being cagey too! I think he knows more, but he won't tell me either. I feel like I'm operating without all the information and it's making me angry. "

" Shuri I.. "

" No Tony! If you are about to tell me some junk about protecting my _delicate sensibilities _I will come to America for the soul reason of kicking you in the shins! "

Even with glasses on it was like she could see so many things cross his face at once. She was ready to call him on it if he tried something but at his sigh she knew he'd tell her.

She was also suddenly extremely scared of knowing.

"He killed my mom Shuri."

She was going to kill her brother!

"Tony…"

"It's okay, I'm.. fine? I know it wasn't actually him. It was Hydra. But I'm not a good person, people know this, that was proven to me when Rogers didn't tell me.."

He muttered that last bit under his breath and Shuri instantly narrowed her eyes. So Rogers knew? And not a good person?! How on earth had he gotten to that? She was obviously still missing information, but considering the utter rampage her brother had gone on to capture Barnes, a single fight contained in Siberia? That was much better than the mess her brother was still cleaning up and atoning for.

The smile that he forced on his face made her sad, this whole situation was a mess but Tony almost seemed resigned and expected to take the blame and that he had to be fine with it.

"I'm fine. I am. I just, I need to do this but I can't.."

"It's OK, I get it."

"I gotta run Shuri, the fabrication on Honeybears braces are coming in, call me if he agrees to send the data. I'm working on the next integration packet based on our channel."

Shuri stared at the screen for a few minutes trying to work out how she was going to kill her brother for this.

He knew, he HAD to know. That's why he'd gotten all cagey, he should of given her a warning! Just, _something _so she could have avoided what just happened. The man didn't deserve more pain.

She was pulled out of her wonderings by CERBERUS deep Scottish voice. Shocked to realise that Tony had left the pathway open, giving her access to his AIs.

"Bana-phrionnsa, there is something me and FRIDAY think you should see, I think you knowing would improve Chiefs functions."

Well that wasn't ominous at all, before she could reply she noticed the younger AI had sent her a video, opening it up after a few seconds of confusion she realised what she was seeing. Tony, Rogers and Barnes, still with his left arm, chatting almost amicably. She knew something bad was coming, but she wasn't backing down now.

Consoling herself that nothing could be worse than reading the Hydra files Tony had sent.

Watching was painful, but it cut off before anyone arrived to help him..

"CERBERUS, FRIDAY… How long?"

"We don't know, Chief erased all details of the time from our servers after Jim tried to find out."

Somehow.. Somehow that was worse.

She needed to _destroy_ something.

Or she was going to kill her brother.


	13. Chapter 13 -Realisations and Reflections

**Chapter 13**

**Realisations and Reflections **

**Barnes POV**

**21st September**

Warning Flash of Torture

He stopped at his door, tilting his head to one side and listening for where people were in the house. After yesterday's fun movie night no one had complained about him hiding in his room but he knew that things were going to be extremely awkward today. As he was already nervous, the idea of sitting through breakfast with everyone.. Nope.

He turned and headed for his window instead, which was actually getting more use than his door lately, and jumped out. As he wasn't sure where people were today, he avoided all of the windows just in case and settled in for a nice quiet trip to Shuri's lab where he could stress over what they were doing today. According to Shuri they were finally done with the data draws. Which, yay for not having to see his life in torture as record speed, yikes that they were actually going to try and disassociate a memory today.

They'd spent a chuck of the last session picking one the system labeled as easier to disassociate. He wasn't at all surprised to find out what the hardest ones were. They'd apparently found the memories linking to the words, unlike all the other memories he hadn't realised he had, which when he saw a glimpse of them, they still felt like his memories. He'd had a little look at the memories with the words and it just left him feeling fuzzy and weird. Shuri had taken readings of that specifically for her partner, Anthony, to work with. They still seemed hopeful even though he was apparently more complicated than they seemed, any time he offered an out for Shuri he glared at.

'Silly White Wolf, the three of us will work on this until you say otherwise.'

When he arrived, Shuri seemed less happy than usual, but she seems to shake it off and smiles at him. He decides to let it go, she lets him occasionally be broody, so he could offer the same courtesy.

"You are going to want to check the security feed for last night's movie night."

"Oooh, what happened now?"

She grinned and dragged him fully into the lab, manipulating screens around him in a flurry he could hardly track until he sees the common room appear. With him and Wings happily reading.

"Oh nothing much. Just Wings found the video of Dr Stark and Laura at the Accords Council."

"Oh yes we are definitely watching this when we're finished. I'll send it to my brother now, is the little angry man talking about leaving?"

"Not that I've seen. Him and the Ved'ma vanished right after."

Shuri nodded, humming whilst she was cutting the section of the video to send to T'Challa.

"Oh, before I forget, I've spoken with Anthony again, he'd sent more updated code but isn't happy with it. At the moment he has several algorithms set, that will work with certain memories but he doesn't like that, he's a bit of a perfectionist but I agree with him. "

" I mean, would it be easier if I just used what he's already written, he's done a lot of work.. "

" He said getting this right would be the difference between you having to watch a memory 3 times or 300.."

" Ah, okay, Um, I'm okay with you both being perfectionists? "

Watching one of his memories once was hard enough, 300? He's not sure he could do that and cling to the dregs of sanity he has left. He also could not imagine his therapist signing off on something like that and for each disassociation attempt all three of them had to agree it was safe to try each one. His therapist had been concerned he'd just go along with anything Shuri offered, so she was there to temper them from running before they crawled.

"Well, he's asked for your permission to send more data. He still won't see any memories, it's just more information on your brain reacting. No confidential information."

He nods along, not entirely sure why they're stressing this point so much. Sure he doesn't really want people to see him getting tortured, but this Anthony was his chance to get the words out of his head! He was giving him everything. Was giving him a chance of actually living. He'd been wary at first, the idea of people messing with his brain, but he'd been reading a lot, Shuri had shown him the algorithms as they came in. He knew a few programming languages from requisite missions, so some bits jumped out at him, but they just seemed to flow in a way he'd never seen before that he lost track of time when he was reading them.

He knew the algorithms alone couldn't do anything to his brain, it was just the difference between retraumatising himself rewatching torture or eventually disassociating it. Even though he had never met this guy, he felt like he kind of knew him a little bit. He obviously cared a lot about making sure it was known he wouldn't be changing any memories. Which, true, he'd been brainwashed so it made sense, but this Anthony had put a ton of effort, handicapped himself even, just to ensure he didn't feel like he was being brainwashed again. It was comforting in a way. As much as a stranger can be, the notes in the code had made him laugh a few times too. So he was surprisingly fine with this.

"Yeah sure, anything he needs to make his job easier."

Shuri seemed slightly amused, by his answer? He wasn't sure but she sent a message, he assumed to pass on his consent before starting to set everything up for him. He steeled himself before he sits down, knowing they won't be diving straight in but also wishing they would.

"I ran our test memory over the now 9 algorithm variations, because of course he went and wrote more before I even had a chance to ask you about letting him see more data."

Shuri rolls her eyes and he chuckles, he's not sure how he ended up with two highly dedicated people willing to go to such lengths just to help him, but he's starting to accept it as a good thing instead of a 'I'm not worth it' thing. That didn't take _much_ therapy…

He picked up the glasses and relaxed back as he went through the memories required to unlock the device, hearing a now familiar beep that he was done.

"OK, it's going to pop up an authorisation for level 2 data to be sent to the manufacturer about now."

He blinked because that was weird, there was like a floating box in front of him. He read everything over, explaining what it meant and it asking for permission. He really didn't want to flail around trying to press a button that only existed in the glasses..

" Um.. How do I say yes? It's like a floating box… "

"Huh. OK."

She grabs her phone and sends a message, luckily they don't have to wait long before a message comes through.

"Apparently you just think that you're agreeing to it? I swear sometimes he forgets normal humans use his tech and don't automatically think you can talk to it with your brain"

He couldn't help but chuckle as she muttered under her breath about infuriating, idiotic geniuses. He gives it a go and the box turns green before vanishing into butterflies before him. All in all. It's very surreal.

"Well, I think I did it right?"

"Yup, you're good, Holy crap that is a lot of information. That will take a long time to send. He wants me to run through a few scans of certain memories too apparently, you won't see anything, it's just to get more information. This bit might be boring, he said there is a screen saver of sorts apparently, to stop you getting bored."

He sat still as the scan was happening, it was tricky because he could not hear, see or feel anything happening. It was nothing like that data draws. The voice in the back of his head was silent but he felt a sense of amusement coming from it which was odd and he was really starting to get concerned about that. Whilst he could justify odd thoughts popping up, now he was getting feelings that were plain different from his. He'd wondered about telling his therapist or Shuri but he felt really awkward about it and was kind of hoping it would go away on its own. That's when the butterflies appeared everywhere and nearly made him fall off his chair.

Shuri ran over, obviously concerned but he waved her off because he actually really liked it.

"The screen saver? That, it startled me is all."

"Oh, I can turn it off?"

"No, no don't do that. I like it."

He has to practically sit on his hands not to reach out, but it was still good. What was odd was that they seemed to land on objects in the room which was amazing that the glasses could do that. He'd been watching the one on Shuri head when they all fluttered away at the same time. He bit back the complaint as he doubted these augmented reality glasses were designed to watch butterflies.

"He also told me that after a memory you can trigger the screen saver as a relaxation technique?"

He grinned, yeah he definitely would be doing that.

"Okay, got everything you need?"

"Yup, ready to start with Memory 42?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"OK, this is going to use the full projection around you instead of just the glasses, do you want me to leave?"

"I would like you to stay? But, Um, you shouldn't have to see.. That."

"I'll be okay White Wolf. I've read everything available when I was researching your arm."

He was slightly horrified at that, that she'd read it. Not because it was him but because she should have seen it. Part of him screamed at him to send her out, a selfish part wanted her to stay. The back of his mind wanted her to stay too. Shuri was comforting.

"OK, stay, but leave if you have too?"

She nodded and set up the large silver poles whilst he did his breathing exercises. They'd intentionally picked a memory that he already knew well. It featured in his flashbacks and dreams often. This way they weren't shocking him right out of the box with an unknown memory and he should get an idea if the treatment helped.

Another box came up, asking if he was ready to start, he knew what to do this time and the box turned green. Then everything got weird. Blue lights shot from the poles, connecting with each other around him and the lab and Shuri fell away.

"Shuri?"

"I'm still here, I won't leave."

That relaxed him because he hated this room. It was small and cramped and he only ever saw it occasionally when they threw him back in without the blind fold. 3 feet by 6. Stone walls that were always ice cold. The door was metal and not a scrap of light could be seen under the door. Even when he wasn't blindfolded, his superior night vision didn't pick up much. It was dim, dank and even the smell suddenly came back to him that he nearly retched. He was thrown into a sensory flashback that when something moved near his feet he let out a shout and nearly hurled himself back.

"It's OK, you're still in the lab, this is a memory. You're not there."

He closed his eyes and breathed before he looked down, because he knew what he'd see when he looked down. Himself with his hands bound behind his back. He knew knew what metal that was but his skin ran slick with blood and they didn't budge a bit. That blind fold wrapped so right around his face it made his eyes hurt and ear plugs they forced so far into his ears that they bled and he was usually left deaf for an hour as the damage healed. He fucking hated this room and they used it often as punishment. Since working with their little team, he discovered that it had been part of the brain washing to. To make him forget himself.

He'd planned what to do, but faced with the memory in fully, Vivid technicolour around him it was hard to do anything but stare, then suddenly he could move. He didn't know what changed, but something lost its hold on him and he could breathe. He suspected it might be the algorithm. He hoped his idea worked too, that he found show the other two that he could do this.

He knelt down next to.. Himself and started tapping on the floor. The reaction was immediate, even though he knew that this never happened. The version of himself on the floor backed into the corner and he just kept tapping. After a while the panicked breathing slowed. He didn't go big, just simple, they used this brainwashing to take away his identity. So he decided to fight that.

-.- - ..- / .- .-. . / .- .- - . ... / -... .- .-. -. . …

The figure shook his head but he kept it up. Over and over until he taped back.

.- ... ... . -

He shuddered at that but didn't let it stop him. He kept it up over bydd over until he got a tentative answer back.

.. / .- - / .- .- - . ... / -... .- .-. -. . ... ..-..

At that the memory phased out and reset. He went through it 2 more times and on the last time he felt more relaxed than before. Not overly, he was so in the room, but it didn't feel like it had the same hold on him, suddenly everything shifted to black and white before melting back into the lab, with him left crouching on the floor and Shuri beaming at him. A little box flashed 'MEMORY 42 DISASSOCIATED' and he stood, Shuri jumped up and down which meant she was dying to hug him but didn't want to startle him so he held his arms out for her to barrel in.

"You did it! You did it in 3 passes! That was so amazing! What was the tapping?"

"Ah, Morse code."

"What did you say?"

"Well the brain washing was all about taking me away, turning me into the asset. So I just said 'You are James Barnes.' over and over"

"What.. What did he, you, Um well the other you, say back?"

"First he just replied with 'Asset' over and over, but eventually he used the name, he asked if he was James Barnes and that's when it reset."

He grinned as the butterflies reappeared, Shuri left him to quietly come back like she did after all of the other sessions and he sat watching Butterflies follow her around the lab. Sure it was only one memory and he had decades worth. But it felt like a huge first step and he'd gotten past it.

**T'Challa POV**

**22nd September **

T'Challa had a headache.

It was a Rogue Avengers shaped headache.

Rogers had tried to leave the house 98 times. Had sent him 57 messages imploring him that he should be allowed to be with Barnes during his therapy. He'd responded each time that unless Barnes requested such a thing the answer would be no. Only to be told why Barnes couldn't make that decision as he didn't know he needed him.

Now the Archer was getting into trouble.

He'd started 8 fights with the guards and T'Challa had put him on house arrest. Wanda had taken to wanton destruction in protest of Roger's unfair detainment, she'd damaged enough things out of the villa that she was close to being put on house arrest. So far she'd not pushed it further, but he was concerned the more he gleaned about her abilities. They knew if she damaged anything in the house, it would not be replaced. So things had _calmed_ down, especially that with both Steve and Clint locked down, she left less and less.

Barnes Therapy and use of Dr Stark's tech however was going very well, he wouldn't be perfect in a week like Roger's wanted, but his therapist was happy, Shuri was happy and most importantly Barnes was happy too. He knew things were tense at the house but Barnes liberal application of chucking himself out of windows seemed to be not only helping him evade his angry housemates but also amused him greatly.

Scott seemed to be doing fine, he was sending him pictures from around Wakanda and he'd met with him a few times when his duties allowed and he was even asking about the Accords now when they'd met earlier today, probably spurred on by the video they'd watched. He hadn't even known he and his father had been involved in their creation. As far as he could tell, the man had gotten involved in something without first understanding, as far as he'd known his idol and hero needed his help so he'd simply said how high. Sam also seemed to be researching the Accords quietly and had met with him about it. Neither had out and told Rogers this, but it was good to know that some of them had brains.

Shuri abruptly walked into his office, closing the door behind her. She looked very serious and it was quite telling that his first thought was 'what have they done now?' and not about his people.

"Tony told me more about Siberia."

He didn't know what was more shocking, that he had told her about Siberia or that his sister was now calling him _Tony_.

"I mentioned about him and Barnes potentially talking.."

He winced at that but stayed quiet.

"Because my idiot of a brother didn't think to tell me why that would be so bad!"

"It wasn't my place.."

"He answered with 'He killed my mom' and he just sounded so.. I don't know. Broken."

It wasn't great that she knew that, but maybe now she'd stop hunting for informa-

"But that's not all is it? One of his AIs, FRIDAYS younger brother, he thought I _deserved_ to know what really happened."

Before he could respond she did something on her beads that loaded a video on his screen and he immediately recognised the bunker he'd been in back in July. He put his hand over his mouth and realised, for all his curiosity and want of the truth, that he really didn't want to watch this video. But he couldn't turn it off. Plus, the look on his sisters face said he was going to watch this video or suffer greatly. Maybe and suffer greatly... In his head he was just waiting for it to go wrong, when that vile man Zemo spoke it was hard not to snarl. Even now.

Dr Stark looked so different, sure he'd noticed the difference when he saw him in DC, but seeing him again here brought it up. Not just the bruise, he looked exhausted. He'd had much more life in him, apparently time away from his so called friends was good on him.

Barnes has said Dr Stark found out about his parents being murdered, and that he'd seen, but actually seeing it made it worse. With Barnes standing right there too. Rogers lying sparked off a fight that _burned_. Dr Stark did seem to be doing more damage to the bunker though as Barnes had pointed out, Rogers however was certainly not pulling his punches. He felt like this was some kind of punishment that he was watching this video. Even though he knew Dr Stark wouldn't do that. Shuri flinched with him when he used the shield to kill the arc reactor. Barnes words filtered into his head.

_'I wonder how much pressure it takes for a vibranium shield to crack the power source of an Ironman suit. I wonder what that would do to a baseline humans rib cage hmm?' _

Seeing Dr Stark trapped in his suit, unable to barely move as the super soldiers left. It didn't continue much after that but it was enough. He could see the structural damage in places, parts of him exposed to the weather. His brain happily supplied every agonising detail just like he suspected his sister had seen. Sometimes being a genius had drawbacks, in this case it added an extra layer of horror to this situation.

"I'm surprised he even _speaks_ to us. With _them_ here."

She didn't give him a chance to reply, he didn't have much of one anyway. He ran his hand over his face and wondered, not for the first time, what had he left himself get caught up in.

Like his sister, he also wondered how Dr Stark could talk to them. How he was willing to help Barnes. If situations were switched he honestly wasn't sure what he would do. Considering what he had already done…

Shuri practically stalked from the room and he had more survival instincts than to stop her.

**Sam POV**

**26th September**

"Sam.. I have a problem."

"What is it Scott?"

"We'll, I was looking for stuff about Hope and I found a video."

"NOPE!"

Fuck no was he doing this again!

"Ah come on man, your good at this and you know these guys better, everyone will be down for lunch in half an hour because they're delivering it. Here. Watch it and then you decide what to do."

With that the bastard ran.

He was right about the lunch though, when it was delivered no one was late because it was delicious. He loaded up the link he got from Scott and knew he was going to end up showing everyone right away. Stark was up on stage with a long line of empty chairs behind him, Laura stood to one side… And if he was right, Sharon Carter was even fucking there. Great. Stark was still wearing those odd sunglasses but in a different colour. After the last video he'd done a Google images search and discovered that whilst sunglasses were normal, these were very different to what he'd worn in the previous decades. That was quite a shift that puzzled him.

Scott reappeared with Barnes a few minutes later, everyone was a good 20 minutes early. He hadn't really watched the video yet, torn between wanting advance knowledge and just not wanting to know. At all.

"Ah guys.."

"Oh fuck you if you have any more bad news."

He just frowned at Clint while Steve signaled for him to go on.

"Well, it's just Stark has done a press conference."

"Oh play it, maybe he mentions our pardons."

Steve's optimism apparently knew no bounds, and from the incredulous look on Scott's face, it had nothing to do with pardons. He hadn't watched it himself yet but now he was wishing he'd taken the time to instead of brooding over it. Instead he cast it to the TV and decided just to see what happened.

Things couldn't possibly get worse that the Accords Councils video.

Clint and Wanda were muttering to each other about Stark, he didn't even bother listening to them anymore but he was amused at the look on Wanda's face when Laura showed up, which instantly had Clints rapt attention. Wanda was glaring at him, he noticed her eyes flashing red that had him cold again but suddenly she looked nervous and pointedly looked away from him. That was weird, he looked around and Barnes shot him a quick smile but nothing else. Odd. Stark's voice broke the spell and pulled his attention to the screen.

He was grinning wildly in a blood red suit that reminded him of the Ironman armour, but he suspected that was the idea. The sunglasses were a blue tinged silver, when the sun caught looked like the eyes of the suit too. It was a strange look that Stark somehow made work and he wondered why he was suddenly so interested in Stark's wardrobe.

_"Well, I've not done one of these in a while. So, figured the first one should have me introducing you all to the New Avengers!"_

"NEW AVENGERS!"

The shriek from Rogers, Clint and Wanda was painful, whilst Sam had pretty much expected this at some point, he obviously didn't know Stark as well as he thought, but he knew enough to have an idea of what he would do. He'd seen that letter Steve had sent. He'd _begged_ Steve not to send it. Steve had told Stark the Avengers were his, so the man had obviously marched on, barely glancing at them in the rearview mirror and he couldn't find it in him to blame the man anymore. If anything he wished he was there, he loved being in the Avengers.

Now he was a criminal. A fugitive.

Steve called for everyone to be quiet as it was impossible to hear over Wanda and Clint ranting about how they're the Avengers. Because they'd been doing so much avenging lately.

_"-fighting fires, chasing tornadoes, catching villains and generally pitching in where needed as well as the odd problems above and beyond what can be expected of the authorities'" _

Steve was frowning and Clint jumped in, looking equally unhappy.

"What, have they just got the Avengers doing any old job now."

"I know, if they're bogged down with things like this how could they possibly get ready for serious problems."

Sam bit his cheek, because he knew if he said what was in his mind it would lead to an argument. Scott and Barnes were looking at Clint and Steve, minutely shaking their heads, obviously disagreeing, they didn't see however as their attention was focused on the screen. Wanda's scowl however made Sam think that she'd noticed. Which was ridiculous because surely the Avengers fighting wildfires and tornadoes was a _good_ thing, especially with how such things were getting drastically worse each year. He wondered how many people and their homes they'd saved and felt more than a little jealous.

_"So, first I'd like to introduce those who have not noticed, I found myself with a new PA, that over there is the amazing Laura Morgan. Between her and the charming Sharon Carter over there, who will be choosing who talks with Laura, is also my cousin, together they keep everything running smoothly! "_

Clint just stared in shock and it took Sam a second to hear why. Morgan.. Not Barton. Ouch. He was more struck by Steve's face when Stark revealed that Sharon was his cousin?

"I didn't know Sharon even knew Stark.. That means Peggy.."

Steve looked slightly green, Sam didn't know enough to know why. Sharon gave Tony a huge, bright smile over his declaration. Which seemed to take some of the fight out of Steve.

_"Now, I'm going to start inviting people on stage! Let's start with the co-leaders of the Avengers shall we? Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, the reason why the Avengers were born, and my brother in everything that matters, James Rhodes, also known as Warmachine." _

"That's actually impressive, that they have Captain Danvers."

Everyone looked at Barnes in shock, not expecting that. Barnes flushed slightly when everyone's attention zeroed in on him and he stammered out an explanation. Sam gave him an encouraging smile.

"She was on Hydras watch list, known associate of Fury. I don't know how much about her abilities is true.. But she is extremely powerful."

Having the _Winter Soldier_ state she was extremely powerful with a look of respect had him looking at the cheerful tiny blonde in an entirely new light. He tried to focus on that and not the pain that stabbed through him seeing Rhodes in that chair. The man looked happy, but damn.

"Fury mentioned her, it's where he came up with the idea for the Avengers, I get why she's leading but why Rhodes? He's obviously disabled."

Sam, Barnes, Steve and Scott all gave Clint a look that had the angry archer looking guilty for a few seconds before he returned to scowling.

_"Next we have Vision who I'm sure some of you might recognise_."

As Vision floated in Wanda made a pained noise.

_"Next, fabulously dressed, well, at least the cloak, is Dr Stephen Strange, some of you might recognise him, but now he's The Sorcerer Supreme and represents our new magical department."_

Sorcerer Supreme? What the hell? He guessed that was something magic related considering there was now a whole magical department? Which shocked him because Stark was loud and very vocal about his distaste of magic. What was stranger however was Wanda's reaction. She'd gone utterly silent and stock still, eyes wide and breathing faster. Almost like she recognised the guy? Towards this man, that none of them supposedly knew. She also didn't comment on it. No way was _he_ being the one to ask.

The way this new man casually dodged Laura, stalking straight up to Stark and thwacking him on the back of the head, and Stark's fond smile told him a lot. Mainly that he highly doubted this was a new friendship. It seemed… a little too familiar, especially for someone like Stark, who took quite a while to warm up to new people in his experience. He'd be pretty confident in saying that Stark had known him from before this civil war mess. He, however, was sure that he'd never seen him before today.

"He was on SHIELDS watch list. He used to be some hot shot surgeon, got into a car crash, vanished and returned as someone with unknown, off the charts levels of power. No matter who we sent we never got anything of the scope of his abilities. Drove Fury insane."

Barton chimed in this time, Stark was creating himself an incredibly powerful team going by these two new people alone. Danvers was powerful enough for Barnes to recognise her, Strange was powerful enough to scare SHIELD. Vision was already a _'flying heavy hitter'_ in himself. With the suit, if he could still wear it, Rhodes was just as heavy hitter as Ironman. Already the team was probably stronger than them. A captain to replace Steve. A magic user to replace Wanda. He refocused as Stark started talking again as the Sorcerer sat. The cloak seemed to move.. Weirdly. Against the wind. Stark started talking again however so he was drawn back to the frenetic engineer.

_"Now, as a few of you might know, Stark Industries has recently partnered up with Pym tech, and one other company I'll get to later. Much to people's shock. Just to remind anyone, I'm not Howard and the delightful Hope Van Dyne definitely isn't her father. Aren't we all grateful if that! She is also known as the Wasp!" _

"I still can't believe it, Hope man.. Her dad despised all Stark's.. "

Scott muttered under his breath, it had been an easy guess that she was going to be on the team as there were many pictures of her at the compound online, but a press conference did add a level of seriousness to it. Made it official. Plus, Stark Industries and Pym Tech forming a partnership outside of the Avengers? Yeah, there was something more there too.

He knew a little from Scott that Pym and Stark were practically sworn enemies. So seeing Hope skip happily to Stark, dodging Laura and her clipboard and patted Stark's head where the Sorcerer had thwacked him. She also gave him a kiss on the cheek and Sam was left feeling that again, that that was also a very strange action for people who had met potentially only since July. Sure, some people made friends quickly, but Stark was a very.. closed off individual, having two very different people be so familiar with him? Sam couldn't slip this nagging feeling that they knew each other for a longer period of time.

It was strange to be faced with the obvious fact that Stark knew other supers. Supers outside of the team, that he had also made no effort to introduce to the team..

Laura was smiling and rolling her eyes at the groups antics. Everyone looked happy and relaxed, even the sorcerer had a small smile on his face. He couldn't help but compare them to how they'd been.. And they looked more..

Connected.

He'd never really seen Stark like this either. Sure he'd seen the man work a crowd, handle the press with an ease that confounded him, but he was _relaxed_. Everything about him was just more at ease than Sam had _ever_ seen him, he hadn't even realised how ill at ease or stressed Stark was until he saw him now, interacting with these people. A real, genuine smile on his face instead of the press smile that he was now able to recognise. He wondered how much else he had missed when it came to Stark and it was an uncomfortable feeling. Sure, he wasn't the Avengers counsellor, much to Steve's disappointment. Steve just didn't understand it was a conflict of interest, a counsellor _must be_ unbiased, but Steve had refused anyone else being involved. With some of what he'd missed staring him smack in the face because he wasn't unbiased? Maybe he should have pushed Steve further. Again Stark's voice pulled him out of the depressing road his thoughts were taking.

_"Now the next group is one that has been around before but has recently become affiliated with the Avengers, The Defenders with Hells Kitchens own Daredevil, Jessica, Luke and Danny Also known as Iron Fist. The other rich white boy and the 3rd in the partnership with SI and Pym Tech." _

"What are you doing Tony? You already have a team, surely getting us pardons would be much easier than inviting all these.. strange people in without talking about it."

Yeah. Sam was just going to pretend he hadn't heard that. _Without talking about it?_ Did Steve really think Stark would use that old burner phone to talk about adding new people to the Avengers?

He hadn't even realised there were other groups of Supers. Let alone other groups in New York. They were an odd collection, one man was masked and dressed in red, he guessed that was the Daredevil, very odd. The other three were dressed normally and he recognised the woman from one of the pictures he'd seen of Laura. When he'd seen her he'd noticed that she had almost a dangerous aura around her. Having her practically stalk onto the stage wearing black heavy combat boots, combat trousers, and a long sleeved dark shirt with fingerless gloves confirmed his thoughts. At a guess he'd say she was a fighter. Out of the other two, he had no idea. One was big, heavily built, the other, as he was at the end of the group he assume that was the Iron Fist? An odd name choice as be didn't look like he had an iron fist. He also looked young with his curly hair and beard, bouncing on the balls of his feet, excitable compared to the calm of the other man. He went to vere off towards Stark too, but ducked at stayed in line when Laura threateningly lifted her clipboard.

Even this team, that had obviously been together before joining the Avengers seemed to click well with the Avengers. Jess high fiving Sharon as they passed, grinning at each other. It seemed so easy, no one was left out on the side. Sure he was making these observations from a small pool of information, but how Stark seemed so easy with them was a drastic contrast in his mind of how Stark reacted when Wanda was on the team for example. Even before that Stark had seemed on the edges, he had assumed it was Stark's doing until now. That he kept himself separated on purpose, which had been why Steve hadn't called him in to DC.

_"Also, we welcome back Black Widow who is currently on probation, but will be joining us as soon as she is able." _

That caught all their attention, even Barnes who had just been watching peripherally as he didn't really know these people after all, it wasn't exactly of great importance to him, he'd not been an Avenger. The closest he probably got was Hydra keeping tabs in the Avengers, he'd wondered if Hydra had a file on him, he hadn't been with the Avengers before hydra fell, but he'd had the exo suit, he wondered what it would say but he hadn't worked out how to ask yet. Barnes attention was sharp on Natasha. They hadn't spoken much before he went into cryo so that was weird too. He was finding a lot out from this video today. All of it was confusing.

Nat flashed Stark a fast smile before she returned to her normal look. That seemed to cause a physical blow to Clint who had now pulled in on himself. Steve was watching her with a look of irritation, obviously angry that she had left them.

"Maybe she went to Stark so she could keep us updated on things at the compound, but couldn't because of the probation?"

It's weak, he knows it, but he felt like he has to give Steve something, Barnes incredulous look tells him just how weak it was but Clint perks up too. He just shrugged at him.

"Yeah, she's playing double agent. She's not really with Stark."

It didn't explain why she hadn't told them about it but if it stopped arguments for the time being, he was fine with them being delusional.

All the seats were filled now bar one in between Rhodes and Danvers. Putting Stark smack in the centre, flanked by the co leaders. He wondered if that was because Stark dealt with the press more or maybe just because he wanted to sit next to Rhodes..? Or if it was something else? He didn't comment on his position but he'd known that once the Avengers had been run by Steve and Stark. It had meant to be as equals but it had been obvious Steve felt he was the leader and Tony was under that. Now, Carol and Rhodes were putting him in the middle of them either as Co leader with them. It was entirely speculation, but he knew positioning like this was important, especially introducing the new team to have people subconsciously see Stark as the de facto leader, even though he hadn't mentioned his role. .

_"Yup, that's everyone, I'm going to go sit down to now before that clipboard gets aimed in MY direction." _

Stark looked happy, looking at everyone on his team, he still couldn't see the man's eyes thanks to the damned glasses, but he looked content. His body language was so different to Sam it was like looking at a different person. Probably because he wasn't the only one dealing with the press for a change, having his team supporting him. He knows he shouldn't ask, but he can't help himself. He wants to know.

"Why didn't we do this?"

"Stark handled PR."

"We had more important things to be doing than pandering to the press like this."

Steve just shrugs at him, uncaring of such things but considering Steve still occasionally acted like it was the 40s, he likely didn't understand the importance of something like this and probably compared it to the dancing crap he had hated so much. It kind of made sense why he avoided it. Clint snarls, his distaste in the idea obvious, and apparently that's all he's going to get, Clint also didn't have Steve excuse, he was a spy and should know how important this was.

Which is maddening because they should have done this! People should have gotten to know them. Maybe people wouldn't have turned on them if they had. Maybe the fear wouldn't have created the Accords if they'd just opened up. They'd disregarded people, and whilst Stark is good and he kept them running for a long time, even he can't control public opinion. In fact having a single member handle all restoration and public opinion was only a small step up from doing absolutely nothing. It showed a disregard for people and their team member, all at the same time.

Contrary to popular opinion on the team, he was only one man, with more than 1 job, something Steve forgot when he was unable to attend meetings or training at the drop of a hat. Sure, he was one man who often moved mountains, and Sam realised that they both overestimated and underestimated him at the same time.

Sharon pointed at a reporter who asked his question, it was a good one that he wanted to know himself. It just showed how important these things were as he already found himself somewhat invested. Hope chimed in instantly.

_"How did everyone meet?" _

_"Oh I've know Tony since we were kids. Before our dad's fell out we were put together often and went to the same boarding school." _

_"Yup, I remember meeting her, I was waking up from a nap and she was looming over me and asked to play with my hair. Which would have been nicer if she hadn't already started." _

_"You loved it!" _

_"There was glitter for weeks!" _

Scott looked almost pained to find out Hope and Stark where childhood friends. From when Hope was very young by the sounds of it. If Pym once was fine putting his kid with Stark, then at some point he must have thought highly of them? Surely.

_"Who else have you known before putting together the new team?"_

_"I met Strange back in our 20s?"_

At the Sorcerers nod Sam felt pretty impressed with himself for calling those two. Although he and Scott who was still dumbstruck, hadn't expected Stark and Hope to go so far back. He hadn't expected the Sorcerer either.

"I wonder why Tony never mentioned these people?"

_"Yes, we came across each other at a Maria Stark foundation gala." _

_"You made the evening much more entertaining." _

Sam isn't all that surprised when the man doesn't respond further, just gives Stark a smile. He looks like the kind of guy who wouldn't speak much. Rhodes jumps in next, with another surprise. Sam knew that Stark and Rhodes were old friends, but didn't realise just how far back the odd pair went. He had wondered more than once what brought such different people together, knowing they'd been friends for actual decades? That was impressive.

_"I met these two at MIT" _

Carol pipes in after, which seemed to be a huge shock to Clint. Seems like Shield was unaware of that connection and that Stark was much better at hiding things from SHIELD than they'd known. Sharon, Carol, a Sorcerer and the daughter of Pym tech? Yeah, that's a big oversight.

_"Tony was 14 and had just drank 4 cans of Red Bull, Rhodes was 17, looking haggard and trying to keep the red bull from him. They looked entertaining so I just sat down at their table." _

_"It was strange because most people generally avoided the 14 year old in college." _

Stark jumped in and his brain was reeling from THAT! What sane parent sends a child to college at 14 years old with apparently minimal supervision. Sure he knew he was a genius, but college at 14 seemed a bit much. Also that meant all 3 of them, Carol, Rhodes and Hope were Tony's childhood friends. Because 14 is definitely childhood in his mind, college or no.

_"The young black kid caused a stir too." _

_"You both did. It's why I sat with you." _

The questions switched to the defenders and they half listened and talked.

"I can't believe Stark went to college at 14, that's a bit strange, I mean, to put such a young child in an environment like college?"

"I'm sure Howard was looking out for him. He was a good man."

"Steve, still 14 and college.."

"Don't know why your so worked up about it Sam, his dad probably paid his way in and paid for his qualifications. Bought a wing of the college or something."

"Now Clint, Howard was a good man, he wouldn't cheat the system like that. Especially for his son, he'd expect him to work on his own merit."

Sam just raised an eyebrow at Clint.. Wanda looked irritated but that was nothing new when discussing Stark. Sure, he wouldn't be surprised if Howard dropped a lot of money, but it was a bit ridiculous to say he paid for his qualifications. He hadn't had many conversations with Stark, but when he did it was obvious how smart he was. Confusingly so, even when he dumbed it down.

He decided to see if he could find the man's qualifications on his tablet as colleges kept some online, easy to access, as Stark was famous he figured finding it would be easy, just searching Tony Stark Dissertation. Which it was… but he didn't find one. He found several different colleges too surprisingly but the most and oldest were from MIT.

Whilst that was incredibly impressive, maybe it was because he was looking at it from the point of a counsellor, he couldn't help but think it wouldn't be conducive to raising a healthy kid? If he was always pushed forward in school, maintaining a social group would have been extremely difficult until college where people maintaining friendships over different years or subjects was more normal. Which could explain the way he'd interacted with the team and why he was so close with Rhodes.

Information that would have been _incredibly useful_ when he was trying to get the team interacting better with each other, 2020 hindsight and all. He'd just assumed Stark had little interest with them as he was in a different social circle to them. He quickly Googled his date of birth to see how old he was in '90.

"I just looked up his dissertations, he got his PhD after only 3 years. Several of them. When he was 17"

Clint and Wanda seemed to just not really care, Steve looked slightly impressed but he got the feeling the Steve didn't really understand how long most people spent in college from getting a degree, masters and then a PhD. Scott however looked utterly floored and waved his tablet so he sent everything along before turning back to the TV. Another piece of the Stark mystery falling into place, and yet again leaving him with more questions than answers. Barnes also looked quietly impressed and was tapping away on his tablet too. _Interesting_.

_"After the picture of you surfaced from the hospital and your subsequent time in seclusion, would you say all this is worth it?" _

Steve leaned forward as said picture flashed up on the screen, obviously overlayed by whatever network this had played on. Barnes immediately looked away as if pained and Steve paled too. Some guilt was evident on his face and it looked like his eyes were flicking back and forth from the picture to the sitting, smiling Stark before them. Sam just reminded himself, that whilst he might look guilty, he didn't regret his choices, he only regretted that Tony found out. Barnes however, there was real regret there.

_"Of course. I always knew I could end up injured. The suit stops a lot but I'm still squishy. It has always been a possibility and it's never stopped me before now has it?" _

That's got him a few chuckles and he has to say he was impressed. Sure he was human and was an Avenger too, but most importantly he wasn't a civilian. Stark was. The idea of being hurt in the line of duty was not a foreign concept to him, a rich man with the ability and resources to do pretty much anything he wanted? That he was still fighting after such injuries was commendable to him. Clint and Wanda obviously didn't agree, Scott was searching for stuff about Stark. Obviously now intrigued by the man but he stopped to enjoy the sight of Hope ripping into a sexist reporter going on about the Stark/Pym rivalry,

_"Captain Marvel, Are you open to working with Captain America?" _

Carol's face shuttered into unimpressed also as fast as Stark seemed to shut down, the media smile that Sam now recognised on his face and he leaned back. Effectively checking out of that conversation, Scott and Barnes also seemed to notice the change he thought, as they were both frowning slightly. He got Scott's interest in Stark, he'd been basically taught to hate the man and was now questioning everything. Barnes however, he wasn't sure why he had developed such an interest in Stark.

Everyone in the room was very interested in this question however, leaning forward in their seats. Steve was actually on the edge of his seat, wringing his hands in his lap. His words were confident but his voice was not.

"She'll have to, I'm the leader of the Avengers.

_"Frankly? As of right now? No. I don't think he would be a good fit for our current dynamic. But if he was willing to put the time in, get up to date with the Accords, do the requisite training and therapy, then things could be reassessed at a later date. Getting into the Avengers is more ordered now." _

_"Now we have a system with several stages to assess competency, ability, skills, and team cohesion. You can't just bring someone home and decide they're Avenger. And when you're in, there is a lot of work and ongoing assessments, not just of abilities of physical and mental health. Bullying for example would not be permitted anymore. "_

At Danvers and Rhodes words he saw Barnes stiffen and he was giving Steve the strangest look. It was obviously unhappy but he wondered why? He was too stunned that the new team had vastly improved support to analyse it, something he'd been desperately trying to do, but Steve had been extremely resistant about bringing people in for mental health assessments claiming that everyone was fine. Everyone was not fine. Their issues had issues. Their issues often clashed too.

What surprised him was Stark had apparently been listening to what he had said in those meetings, where he'd looked bored and checked out, and even more, that the man had implemented his ideas in his absence. He hadn't even known Stark had heard him, from how the others had described him, he hadn't thought Stark would care about stuff like that.

_"What about the rest of the rogues?"_

_"Well, they're currently preoccupied being international fugitives, but if things change, if they fully sign and support the Accords, then their membership can be assessed. A lot has changed since the clique like ways of the Avengers. Now everything is official."_

Steve looked angry, he obviously wasn't happy about the changes Tony was bringing on the team in his absence, but Sam couldn't agree with him. He'd thought it was a bit weird that he'd just been brought in and that was that. He'd been baffled to discover that nothing was out in to replace SHIELD. Stark had hired lots of people from SHIELD but Steve had refused to directly work with them because of Hydra infiltration, even though Stark had been extremely careful at insuring no snakes were brought in. They'd been pretty much relegated to clean up.

_"So much paperwork."_

Tony sighed dramatically but was smiling when Carol shoved him playfully and again he was struck by how the team were with each other.

Compared to them.

Even after the original split, they'd started to split here, in Wakanda where they were not even working. No high stress situations, basically on holiday and they were pulling apart. Scott and Barnes sat as separate from Steve, Clint and Wanda as possible whilst remaining in the same room. He was closer to them but also like a buffer too. Closer to Scott and Barnes. Clint and Wanda were plastered together in a single chair whispering and occasionally spewing hatred in the far corner of the room. Steve was practically separate from everyone… and he didn't even seem to notice how the dynamics were changing around him.

Sam noticed, again, that he did _nothing_ to try and contain Clint and Wanda, even when they were being needlessly vicious or damaging. Steve was angry at _T'Challa_ for putting Clint under house arrest for example, not Clint. Instead of telling him to stop picking fights, he excused it because of Laura. Same with Wanda, he excused everything she did because _'She's just a kid!_' He wondered when exactly would she stop being a kid? She was 24! That's not a kid! He was meant to be the team leader but he never called Wanda or Clint on their questionable behaviour, which just encouraged it in his book. He'd noticed it on a smaller scale back in America, there was just much less happening here that he was picking up on it more, everytime he did however he flashed back on things he'd missed in America. Plus he was now here all the time instead of visiting family. God he missed his mom.

_"Even so, things are much improved. In how we work and support for the Avengers back home and in the field. Ensuring everyone in the team is supported is extremely important to me." _

He couldn't help but feel Rhodes and Carol were speaking to them, or, well to Steve. Maybe for how Stark has been treated by them? Instead of looking guilty however, Steve just looked angry.

"They're… They're making me, making us out to be a bully!"

"Aww, poor little Stark, trying to make people think he's the victim."

Wanda sneered again and Barnes was looking at Steve with a contemplative look on his face. That was it, Steve's extreme hatred of bullies. Being called one must be quite a blow for him, but it seemed like he was just getting angry instead. He looked back to Barnes who was tapping away on his tablet, still half watching the TV.

_"This is to everyone? How is the team getting along?"_

_"It's been quite a good way to understand humans more, being around such a varied group who help each other, for even very simple things as well as the big. It's fascinating."_

Wanda leaned in, hyperfocusing on Visions every word and not seeming to notice that he was taking a dig at them as well. He didn't know what happened there, but Clint had told them excitedly how Wanda had kicked arse to escape her prison. That Vision had been her guard. If they'd fought he doubted the android would have much interest in rekindling their relationship.

Which had actually severely concerned him at the time. He'd spoken to Steve about it several times that it was a huge red flag. Vision might look like an adult but he was _painfully_ young. Steve had been adamant about leaving them to find happiness and had assumed that Stark had sent him. It had resulted in a huge screaming match between the two men that Wanda had gotten involved in, she'd thrown enough stuff at Stark that he'd had called the suit and Steve had berated him for calling it when there was no need. Wanda wouldn't actually hurt him.

He'd eventually taken it off at Steve's insistence and conceded the argument, but when Wanda had come up to him to say sorry, her hands and eyes were still glowing red. Stark had backed up and refused to shake her hand, much to Steve's annoyance. He'd felt awful for triggering it, Stark had vanished on important business trips for 3 weeks until Steve had practically demanded his return in case he was needed, angry he'd run off when Wanda had been trying to apologise. He'd considered saying something… but things moved on before he worked out what to say.

The sorcerers snark jerked him out of his memories and back to the video, they'd been discussing movies he thought but his thoughts had drifted to that fight. Like other things, he found himself looking at it in a new light.

_"They're almost turning me social. "_

_"Ah, Mr Sorcerer Supreme. Is your cloak waving?"_

The.. Cloak? Ducked from the glare the sorcerer gave it..

_"Yes." _

Watching a Sorcerer glare at his waving cloak made this all have an extremely _surreal_ feel to it, they all started laughing good naturedly, even the Sorcerer was sort of smiling. Stark made a motion with his hand and the cloak jumped up, left the Sorcerer and flew over to him! That was extremely weird, he'd assumed that the cloak was being controlled by him somehow, but from his eye roll and Stark's smug smirk, he wondered if it was a weird sentient cloak?

Could cloaks be sentient? Why would you need a sentient cloak? Who would make a cloak sentient in the first place? These were all questions that he'd never thought he'd ask himself.

Sam wasn't sure when his life had verred utterly off the normal road but sentient cloaks were a bit much, even for him. Steve, and then Clint interrupted his thoughts on the cloak that he thought was actually quite fun..

"Is everything a joke to them?"

"Everything is a joke to Stark. That Strange has apparently been his friend for decades so they're probably the same, he just went and found himself a team of people exactly like him."

Whilst they were complaining and Wanda was joining in, he focused on the screen instead. The reporters seemed to enjoy seeing half the avengers crack up laughing, watching the cloaks antics and the interaction between the heroes had several of them laughing too. He had to admit it did make them all seem more approachable, more down to earth. Even with sentient flying cloaks, which was pretty impressive really.

Which was probably the idea.

The idea was obviously to get people who currently hate, or were scared of supers, to reconsider. From what he was looking at, he could see it working. They were real people and were showing that. He assumed that them working more helped too, instead of just waiting for big bads, they helped more.

The next few questions after a few more directed at the Defenders, were mostly about funding of the Avengers.

Which was when he discovered that Stark had been personally bankrolling them since DC.

That was a shock, he'd never really asked about funding, just assuming it was some group or the government. He knew Stark housed them and made their gear, but everything in the house, food to clothes was also from Stark, apparently so we're all the reparations and rebuilding funds except those he raised with his charities. The numbers being listed were in the actual billions and only him, Barnes and Scott seemed shocked and appalled by it. When it looked as if Scott was about to comment, Wanda had just glared at him.

"It's blood money anyway. It's the least he can do."

Billions of dollars.. That just shook him. He couldn't even conceive of money in actual billions! He'd never considered the price of their gear, of the compound, of their missions, the jets. Now he was and he was left feeling deeply uncomfortable with one fact. He'd never said thank you.

Now he wasn't funding the Avengers alone, it was a joint effort of Stark, Hope and Danny. They rejected government funding to keep the Avengers initiative private but for missions requested by the Accords Council, they did receive some wages based on certain missions brought to them that they could accept or refuse. The fact they could refuse missions was a shock, Steve's main argument was that the Accords would force them to do missions against their will.

_"What if the rogues come back and call themselves Avengers?"_

Laura glanced at Stark who had shut down again, he was still smiling but it was a little more stiff than the easy smiles they'd been throwing around earlier. Sam noticed that like at the Accords Council, he'd paled a little. No one in the room commented but Barnes had an oddly concerned look on his face. He hoped he wasn't feeling guilty for his part on Siberia, seeing evidence that Stark hadn't fully bounced back must be hard on the man.

He really wished that the reporter had not asked that question. Because he knew the answer would be hell for _them_. Scott obviously hadn't watched the video this far in as he'd been shocked before now so he couldn't get a read on what it could be. He hadn't expected Laura of all people to answer.

_"They can't. Not legally anyway. Dr Stark legally holds the name and the civil organisation that works underneath it, along with The GUARD. Anyone else would be claiming it illegally."_

"He can't just claim to have the Avengers!"

Clint looked unhappy but at the same time he shrugged in response to Steve's outburst.

"Sure he can. Fury effectively gave it to him. You were the team leader but he funded everything so it was his too. Fury figured that it was the best way to keep him invested in the Avengers, keep him from backing out. Shield could barely afford to equip us and you know our gear from Stark was better."

"But that's, that's not right, Steve is the head of the Avengers!"

It devolved pretty much from there Wanda and Steve attacking Stark for pretty much everything. About how he is stealing the title of the Avengers. Clint joined in for some things, but even he had to admit that Stark had a legal right to it. He thought back to that letter Steve had sent. He couldn't help himself, he was pissed and it was a low dig.

"You did tell him that the Avengers were always his Cap."

Steve had glared at him then before stomping off. Food arrived not long later and Barnes returned with it, which was interesting because Sam hadn't seen him leave the common room. Sneaky bastard. Clint and Wanda took theirs and Steve's portions before shooting him an annoyed look and stompoung off. He sighed as the 3 of the dished up and stayed around the TV. Looks like he was in the dog house.

The rest of the questions had gone by during the ranting and he decided to watch it again later without the running commentary. Barnes looked at them both hopefully.

"Can we watch Lord of the Rings?"

He couldn't help but grin and loaded it up, Scott was still searching for stuff on Stark and apparently found a website devoted to creepy stalker fan pictures.

"Cassie.. My kid.. She's there too."

He showed them a series of pictures of Stark, Laura and Meg at the park with a whole gaggle of kids. He knew that 2 were Laura's, 1 was Scott's, But there was a teenage boy and young girl that he couldn't place, that was weird. Well, it was weird seeing Stark covered in kids. Scott was looking forlorn at a picture that had Cassie and Lilah stuck to his back and the other girl was clung to his leg, head thrown back in laughter. Despite being weighed down by kids, Stark was smiling. Another picture had all the kids dog piled on him. He noticed Barnes looked equally as baffled.

The three of them had all been told a lot about Stark.

This.. This didn't fit with anything they'd been told.

**Barnes POV**

**27rd September**

He slipped the glasses of and took a deep breath. They'd ran through 5 memories today and disassociated 4 of them. After going through the last memory 6 times with no improvement they'd called it a day because he was starting to get nervous. He'd spent a good hour after using all the techniques his therapist had given him. He'd been listing things in the room the butterflies landed on as a way of grounding himself and he felt surprisingly good after.

He didn't feel awesome, he was tired and felt like he'd been through the emotional wringer, but at the same time he felt similar to how you feel after a long needed cry. They'd had several full sessions now and disassociated quite a lot of memories. He didn't feel perfect, but he felt.. Lighter? He'd gone from having nightmares every single night and barely sleeping more than two hours to having an occasional night utterly nightmare free. He was averaging 4 hours of sleep a night too, well, for the most part. There were still sleepless nights here and there.

He'd gone into this just expecting to get the word's removed, and whilst they were kind of stalled on that, the glasses were helping him so much already in such a short amount of time. It was amazing. He'd talked to Sam about it who was shocked for him, he was surprised at how much improvement he was making in such a short time.

Not that everything had been sunshine and daisies. After a session where he'd disassociated 7 memories, he'd gone back floating on air and out of nowhere utterly crashed. He couldn't get out of bed. He couldn't eat. He didn't understand it, he was angry at himself for being so pathetic when he had no reason to! It had taken his therapist braving Steve to come to the house when he'd missed their session to help talk him round, that depression didn't follow strict rules that because a day is good you'll be happy. Sometimes it hits when everything is great, and attacking himself for it had not helped. They'd talked for a few hours and she'd left when he'd decided to make little origami animals and bake cookies. He'd promised to not miss their next session.

All in all, he felt like he was doing pretty well. The only person who didn't was Steve. He was still against the therapy sessions, he was definitely against the mysterious tech that he refused to talk about. Maybe if he told Steve about the glasses it would help. Let him read about them? He doubted it, but it might be worth a shot. As far as Steve was concerned it had been _'ages'_ and he wasn't _'cured'_ yet, so Shuri's tech and his therapist were obviously useless and he should stop wasting his time and stay at home with him instead. He'd felt quite proud of himself when he had refused, said he was carrying on with it and it was his choice. He'd not even felt like panicking when he said it, he'd even stuck around instead of jumping out of the window.

To him, that was a huge improvement. To Steve it was a sign he was being manipulated and changed because _Bucky_ would _never_ disagree with him like that.

He knew Steve kept forgetting that he had all of the pre war memories back, because he could recall a ton of memories that were just Bucky and Steve screaming at each other like banshees because they could agree on basic things. It didn't mean they weren't friends, so why he was so against him now, he had no idea. Steve seemed to have this impossibly perfect version of him in his head and there was no way he'd be able to compete.

Thinking about Steve always made him conflicted, he was twiddling the glasses in his hand as he thought about him. Running his fingers back and forth the sticker feeling the change in sensation. That had been something he'd started doing a lot lately, looking for interesting things to run his fingers over. It had started with the braids Shuri put in his hair every morning and he'd now started collecting things. He had a shelf in his bedroom that was literally just different rocks with different patterns on. Steve would probably find it weird if he knew, but TicTac liked it, he occasionally brought him new things. Wings called them his pet rocks.

He'd also had 4 soft blankets he liked to just lie in. Feeling different sensations grounded him. At least good ones. There were a few sensory things that made him snatch his hand away. It was hard to explain that touching a certain fabric made him nauseated, but it did. He'd worried what his therapist would say but she seemed fine with it, calling it sensory seeking behaviour and as long as it was under control it was fine, it was a way of coping with his PTSD and apparently a pretty good way too, that had made him happy.

The sticker on the glasses was something he'd been using a lot since he'd first put the glasses on. Although looking at them now, it was a bit.. Weird.

They were a sleek light chrome and rimless glasses. Very modern, futuristic even. They looked expensive. The bright pink sticker was a bit out of place. He picked at the sticker, deciding to look underneath and maybe even take just the sticker back to his room or something. Maybe he could put it in his notebook that had now gained several large lists. The sticker didn't seem important for function that he could see, so he guessed Shuri wouldn't mind. He gently held the glasses between his knees before very, very slowly started peeling it off.

He didn't want to damage the glasses or the sticker. He was hyperfocusing so much that he didn't realise what the sticker was covering until he had it all the way off, and was happy he hadn't torn it. He had just put the sticker onto the first page of his book when he saw the little white Stark Industries logo staring back at him.

The glasses… the outside contractor…

This was Dr Stark's tech. Tony Stark.. Was the Anthony Shuri worked with. He couldn't believe how dumb he was that he hadn't made the connection between Shuri being friends with Dr Stark and knowing an Anthony who just so happened to also be a genius and made the glasses.

In his defence. It made _no sense. _

_Why_ would Stark help _him_? He killed the man's entire family bar a cousin who was related to Peggy, who he remembered attacking! He'd done some digging around and discovered Peggy was Dr Stark's god parent, how was that for fucking weird.

The last interaction with Stark, he tried to kill the grieving man, well, they'd tried to kill each other pretty much.

'You are not this stupid.'

Oh great. The voice is back.

'You can't keep pretending I am not real. The Ironman was not trying to kill us. Even with your tupost'stupidity, we walked away from that fight.'

'Fine. But we were still in a brutal fight. I killed his parents, we fought and he was left to suffer alone. It was all my fault, so why would he do this?'

Not only has the man sent what looks like incredibly expensive, groundbreaking tech to help, he's still helping. _The algorithms_. He has no idea how long the man has spent writing those countless algorithms.

He's seen the code, each algorithm is pages and pages long. They're huge and each one is utterly unique every time based on tons and tons of data. That.. That is a _terrifying_ amount of dedication to helping him. A person who doesn't even deserve a scrap of it but he's still helping?! He mentally nudged the smart arse part of his brain but doesn't get a reply. If anything, it seems even more confused that him! He gets a feeling that having someone care for it, even accidentally when it's really him, is not something it understands. He shakes his head, pushing that back because talking to the voice in your head cannot be a sign of mental health. Shuri thankfully brings him out of his spiral

"Ah, I see you have bypassed Dr Stark's super effective sticker"

"So this really was made by Dr Stark?"

"Yup, This bad boy is 100% Dr Stark. I'm just getting my head around it. It's not my usual area of expertise, probably because the man effectively created an entire new thing."

"But, _Why_? You said outside contractor, I just don't understand?"

Shuri apparently missing the meaning in what he was asking. He wanted to know why a man like Dr Stark, that he had hurt so profoundly, why would he help him?

"Tony was worried you would reject it because he made it, that you might miss the chance to be word free because of people's perception of him and what happened in Siberia. He really just wants to help you heal."

He just looks utterly confused because he still doesn't understand _why_. If anything he was just thankful Stark didn't hunt him down, let alone try to heal him. And it's obvious that he knows they're here, yet he's done nothing about it. They've not been arrested, nothing has happened at all even though Clint assured him that the second Stark knew where they were they would be dragged off to the raft.

"He was worried that your house guests would have you thinking he is a monster. Wanda despises him, Clint, he used to be friends with him but something was said in the raft that still weighs on him. He told me once that Rogers was one of his closest friends, he utterly trusted them, and he doesn't trust easily. So he knows them, and he was 100% sure they'd tell you he was the root and sum of all evil. At first I thought he was thinking the worst… Since July they've proved him right over and over. Wilson and Scott seem to be coming around however. "

" I'm still utterly confused. "

"He's constantly beating himself up that he is involved without your knowledge, it's killing a part of him, even though the man has put so many safeguards on it so you wouldn't be worried about someone changing your memories, it's ridiculous but adorable. "

He shook his head, he got all that, he was surprised at how much had gone into it just to make him comfortable, now he knows its Dr Stark he's even more confused about that. Why would Dr Stark care about his fears or comfort? That he was also stressing over the fact he didn't know? That was so completely mind blowing he just didn't know what to do with it. He hadn't known what to do with the care put in when the creator of the glasses was some unknown entity called Anthony. Now that person was Tony Fucking Stark, a man that had all the right in the world to hate him and want him to rot?

"No, no, I don't mean that. I can see the care gone into it, I've read the algorithms, it's baffling how much he's put into this.."

"I've noticed that when Tony decides to do something, he throws himself into it so it's done brilliantly, especially when it comes to helping people."

The pride in her voice is obvious but it still hasn't answered his question. This is supposed to be and egotistical, narcissistic man who only cares about himself who should despise him yet he's helping him. He has to wonder about Stark's sanity and mental state because he suspects if his therapist spoke to him, she'd tell him to stop it immediately. Surely this was downright masochistic.

"But why? He must hate me for what I did to him? The other night we watched that press conference, Wings found a dissertation he wrote when he was 17, in 1990. He was 17 or barely 18 when I…"

"Hey, hey I don't think he hates you."

"That doesn't make any sense.. "

"If he did, would he send this here? He's known that you all were in Wakanda the day he woke up from his coma and all he did was call me to collaborate and prank T'Challa because he was pretty hurt by his decision. If he hated you, you would have all been sent to the raft on the 7th of July."

He runs his hands over his hair he's so confused, he's heard a lot of Stark. Mostly from the rogues, a little from Shuri and it's been utterly contradictory. The Accords Council, Press conference and the park pictures, 3 outings he's made that he has evidence of since July and none of them line up.

"I need to think, and maybe research. I'm so confused but also extremely thankful that he's done this. If I write him a thank you letter can you send it?"

A strange look crosses her face and he's suddenly reminded of what Wings said the other night that Steve must have sent a letter and he guessed from how Wings had talked about it after they'd finished the first Lord of the Rings, that it had not been great.

"It.. It won't be like Steve's."

"OK, I'll send your letter. I think some research would be good. Tony is a good man, he helps and helps until he had nothing left but his old team carried on demanding more. I thanked him for listening to me rant back when he was in the hospital because these sound absorbing shoes I was making for T'Challa had a glitch. It was 2am in America, and he had sat helping me for 4 hours until I realised he was listing to the side and looked in pain. I thanked him and do you know what he did? "

"What..? "

"He froze. He utterly froze up before shrugging it off and thanked **me** for the chance to get involved. So maybe before you believe the team that he lived with for several years, that he housed, fed, clothed, bankrolled and made everything they asked for, whilst having 2 full time jobs, remember that the concept of thanks was practically alien to him. "

That. Sounded nothing like Steve... Steve wouldn't just take like that. With that and the fact he'd considered Steve a close friend, it just made everything about the civil war more horrifying and that he'd been lied to.

It started off with his best friend vs a self obsessed, uncaring volatile, angry man who stood for nothing but himself. That was trying to control the Avengers.

Then he keeps finding out more and more that make things seem off. This was like the glass flooding with little drops of water. He felt a need to find out more about the man, hopefully without coming off like a creepy Internet stalker. He knows that it will be hard, he'd done little checks and found out that he'd lived a lot of his life in the public eye and the media loved to hate him and loved to love him. Discovering the truth would be hard

"Before you go, now that you know who he is. Would you be willing for him to have more access to the data from the glasses? It might make it easier on him and bett-"

"Of course! Anything he needs as long as he's OK with it. He shouldn't have to be helping me anyway, I don't want him to feel he has to trudge through my brain.."

Shuri just rolls her eyes before smiling and nodding.

"Oh, do you want to know what the glasses are called?"

"I thought it was RFG? Retro Framing Glasses?"

"Ah, no. Because you didn't know it was Tony's invention, I cut a bit of it the name."

"Oh, so I wouldn't find them attached to his name online?"

"Oh no, because the name is utterly ridiculous and if I can't blame it on him I wasn't going to use it."

"So what is it?"

She's laughing and looking genuinely amused and he has to admit to being curious now.

"Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing."

"That does sound bad?"

"Hmm, it doesn't until you turn it into an acronym, then you get BARF."

He laughs at that, yeah that name is absolutely ridiculous and he'd wonders how on earth Stark came up with such a ridiculous name and adds it to his list of 'strange personality traits that do not live up to what he has been told'. Speaking of naming things ridiculously, he isn't that good himself considering what he has this list called.

He jogs out of the lab and makes his way back to the villa. Instead of going in however he takes off jogging towards the small forest very close. After the RFG, well, BARF sessions he liked to be alone when he didn't have therapy straight after and sometimes after therapy. Before Steve was on house arrest, he'd discovered a spot in the first because none of them would go in. About 20 minutes at a jog in, there is a little clearing. Big enough for the sun to shine in and is full of wildflowers he'd never seen before. When he gets there he moved to his spot, sitting on a huge rock and leaning his back onto a big rock behind him.

He pulls out his tablet, pen and a notebook. This however, unlike his wolf notebook, is just your average spiral notebook. He usually used it to jot things down, everything that comes to mind or that he sees or likes or dislikes. This from therapy, quotes, lines from TV shows, dreams, nightmares, recipes, pretty much everything. It was a good excuse to just write, which he enjoyed alone for the sensory experience, then he chooses what to put in his fancier book. It's a good system. It's also perfect for what he wants to do now. He flips to an empty pages and starts writing down what he's been told and what he's learned since waking up about the mysterious man whilst looking on his tablet for information about him and his life.

**Self-obsessed, arrogant, uncaring **-

Sent expensive _(extremely!)_ tech to Wakanda just to help me. Has not stopped involvement even though he has no reason to help me and every reason to hate me.

Has written, at the moment, 17 very long, complicated algorithms and still wants to help more. Is willing to spend his valuable time going through data from my messed up brain.

Has not arrested us?!

Has not told anyone we are here even though he should and could probably get into serious trouble for hiding it.

When severely injured and exhausted, helped a 16 year old he barely knew.

Has so many charities I can't even count.

His company has won so many awards for employee satisfaction.

The minimum wage at SI is $15! Seems to care deeply for his staff and there are a lot.

Blatant adrenaline seeking behaviour pre Ironman seems more concerning regarding his mental health from what my therapist told me about jumping out of windows and off roofs.

**Rude** -

Found some evidence of this but the video was amusing, plus they were trying to take his suit so I understand.

Most evidence of him being rude is before he became Ironman and he decided to change and improve himself? Although still very snarky.

Many articles with him doing extremely questionable things, but have decreased. Several are from competitors however.

He's allowing Shuri to get all the credit for fixing his brain.

Dr Stark must have been working on this often. He could have stopped earlier and forced me to watch his memories hundreds of times, instead he is constantly working to help me avoid that.

That could have been an easy way to punish me. Yet he is bending over backwards to make me feel comfortable.

He only spoke to me a few times, hard to gauge rudeness. Just used nicknames I did not get.

**Volatile, angry** -

Attacked Steve and me in Siberia… but since he's dedicated himself to tons of work to help me?

Shuri says that Stark was concerned that I hated him for attacking me. That he feels guilty which makes no sense.

I'm still not sure he shouldn't have killed me.

Most evidence online points to sarcasm, even in videos where he is fighting villains.

Even against a man who calls himself Dr Doom.

After 3 minutes of him monologuing in the third person, I feel volatile and angry.

**Selfish**\- Can you be a selfish superhero?

Steve says he only fights for himself but he's gotten badly injured so many times it actually terrifying when I bet not all of it makes it online.

At the Accords he spoke passionately about helping people?

Note mutant hate rallies are disturbing and what is wrong with people?

Has spent months working whilst severely injured to help people he's never met.

Found pictures of him visiting children's cancer wards..

Saved TicTac and Barton families, (maybe more?) even though they fought against him.

Seems to have hired as many ex SHIELD agents as possible and formed 'The Guard' after this Data dump.

The video of New York.. He flies a fucking nuke into a sodding space portal in the sky before plummeting to his death. Yeah. I'm just scratching this one off. WTF.

**Unable to work with a team, abrasive **-

From the press conference, he seems friendly with his new team, they seem to like him a lot? As he is on medical leave, there is insufficient data of him working with new team to form a conclusion.

In videos of the old team, he saved them on multiple occasions, catches Clint when he jumps off roofs.. As this is just mobile footage of idiots who stay in dangerous situations instead of running to film hero's when villains show up. Maybe I'm missing something?

He collaborates and works with Shuri often. Even though her brother is hiding us. She is also 16 and suspect most adults wouldn't work with someone her age.

The fact he froze when thanked makes me think that others on the team were also bad team players so information is sketchy.

Natalia for instance was terrible at teamwork, but that was how she was trained.

He taps his pen on his mouth as he switches to reading some older articles of Dr Stark, and jotting things down as he goes. Kind of like when he goes onto wiki and just keeps clicking something from each article until he ends up somewhere completely different.

Articles vary wildly, from a picture of him at four years old creating his first circuit board and how he would even surpass his father to pictures calling him a sex addict who will sleep with anything with a pulse.

For some reason that article about the circuit board leaves him with a cold pit in his stomach more than the ones about his sex life, of which the Internet really seems obsessed with. More than a little creepy. The Internet is freaking weird. There are so many websites talking about Ironman and Captain America in a relationship.. He's pretty sure Steve would have mentioned that.

From the circuit board article however it made him think about Howard. He knows it's bad to speak ill of the dead, probably doubly so when it was you who killed them… But from his memories he knew that he disliked Howard Stark. He'd also not understood why Stevie thought the man could walk on water. Even now he still saw him as a good man when there was a lot on the Internet that said otherwise. He was a womanising, sexist drunk who thought he was the best in every room he entered. He was also a bully to anyone he considered beneath him, especially if they were working on something he considered _his_ area.

He never understood how Steve liked the man, yet hated bullies. He also could be cruel but he usually hid it well. He'd found himself mostly just smiling and pretending to like him in order to avoid dealing with him, he'd seen the guy angry enough to know to avoid it. In the picture with his kid, he really does not look happy at the idea of someone surpassing him, which does not surprise him. Even his son it seems. His wife is smiling brightly and that however does make him feel guilty. He gets a push from the back of his brain and realises Howard has what looks like a painful grip on the kids shoulder, but the disturbing part is the kids stood there smiling.

'We did the world and him favour.'

He ignores that because he seriously doubts having your parents killed is a _good thing_. From how Dr Stark had said _'He killed my mom'_ it was clear he had loved her. He didn't know what memories the thing in his brain had access to make it so sure of itself.

'Hydra posted surveillance on Stark's multiple times before extraction mission was issued 1991. Nearly every year I sat for weeks. _Watching_.'

It practically snarls at him, this is news to him. He didn't remember any of that and the BARF had knocked lose so many memories of his time with Hydra it was nauseating. He waited to see if it would show him a memory, like it occasionally did when he was bored, it's favourites lately seemed to be Steve hitting his head on a door frame, TicTac firing chocolate milk through his nose, Wings tripping over because he'd distracted him scaling the building, Shuri doing their hair, weirdly, Dr Stark disassembling the gun in his hand with a cocky grin on his face after catching a bullet. There were others too, it was a weird assortment of memories it seemed to be collecting and hoarding. He waited but when nothing came he went back to his research. He really shouldn't be acknowledging it anyway.

There isn't much else about his childhood until he turns up at college and there everything gets weird. Articles praising him next to ones showing him drunk and passed out in the street calling him an alcoholic.. At 14/15! Personally he thinks the article should be shaming who ever let a 14/15 year old get plastered.

After he's 17 those kinds of articles get much worse and more frequent and to him, that's his guilt written in black and white. What would Dr Stark's life have been like if he hadn't bashed Howard's head in, or throttled Maria? He wonders where Peggy was, and why she hadn't stopped this? He can't imagine the Peggy he remembers letting a 14 year old child, her godson, nearly killing himself with alcohol and gods know what else, repeatedly. It's surprising that he even lived long enough to nearly die over and over as a superhero.

The Internet seems to store practically anything and everything he starts to realise, with the same veracity for the serious, the bizarre and the utterly pointless. Like a website dedicated to pictures of Dr Stark's ties. Just, why? This seems especially so when celebraties are involved, and even more so when they fuck up. Sorting fact from fiction is near impossible.

It's merciless in its collation of information, and timeless in its storage, take something down in one place and it's back in 10 more. It's more like Hydra than Hydra could dream to be. Between what has been recorded over the years, people with a vendetta and people with a cause, with the SHIELD data dump thrown in, he notes that the kill count attributed to Dr Stark is very high. That's not including the shady dealings of his company that he was apparently not aware of.

One thing he now knows, is that there is a huge personality flip after Afghanistan. Where he'd been almost apathetic before. To make up for what he deemed as a lack of accountability when he inherited his father's business and continued it. Even when it nearly bankrupted him, but he clawed back and SI is doing better than ever it seems, with his old PA as the CEO which seemed an odd move. He noted that not long ago something bad had happened with the company, losing a lot of business, but he got it back on track without a single employee losing a job.

This is especially evident with relief efforts after battles that he's confused to discover only tend to feature him. He doesn't stop there however, he funds Med-Tech, agriculture, vaccines, building sources of clean water, schools... They aren't even all named after him, luckily for him, Dr Stark seems to have some obsessed fans who collected the proof for him.

He finds a video of Dr Stark, before Siberia, explaining how and why he invented the glasses, and that he tested it on himself like Shuri mentioned. It gave him killer migraines and the name BARF was literal, and until he solved these issues, he didn't move forward letting anyone else use it. Whilst he is thankful for that, he has to wonder about his self preservation instincts, as in if he has any, at all. After watching him hop in a racecar and the ensuing chaos on a shakey mobile phone video, he feels fine concluding that he has precisely zero self preservation. Shuri is right, the man needs a minder.

After that he finds his way to his accessibility range and his private war on insurance companies to make sure kids who need disability aids get them. It's not a great market to make money in, and with it being so small, things just cost more as they're niche. As a business decision it seems questionable, according to the many articles calling him mad for it. It didn't seem to have stopped him. Clean energy is ranted at for the same reason almost as much as he is praised. How he's installing arc reactors across the globe for free, with containment so no one else can tamper with the tech and potentially weaponise it, smart, Hydra was itching to get their hands on one, more searching for that he has to wonder if what he is reading is true in the SHIELD files, when it states he developed the miniature version whilst being tortured in a cave.

From what he could tell, SHIELD had known for years this Stane man was slime and what he was doing, supplying an addict with alcohol and drugs to keep him from noticing his shady dealings, that he eventually ordered an assassination that resulted in torture, where he created the first Iron man suit. He knows that is a short write up by someone at SHIELD and wonders how much hasn't been recorded. In fact the amount of kidnappings SHIELD has recorded for him is crazy itself, the fact many are listed as rescued himself too makes him wonder why? However, now he understands Hydra fear of capturing him, keeping him somewhere he doesn't wish to be seems very tricky.

That was when the thing in his mind surged forward, because this was evidence to back up his claim. Exiting the caves, Dr Stark killed nearly every terrorist in the base. But he didn't leave it at that. When he got home, he improved the armour, he went back and destroyed the ten rings, destroyed all their weapons and left the leader to be torn to pieces by those he terrorised.

'When he sets out to kill an enemy, they die. The Ironman's enemies do not live long when he turns his attention to them.'

He thinks about his hydra designation of Threat Level Alpha*, only approach if immediate capture and transfer to chair available. That a _baseline human_ had the same containment notes as Steve or even Thor… and weirdly.. it has seemed excessive then..

From what he's read, Dr Stark knows betrayal, deeply, intrinsically. However, there are not many that have betrayed him still walking, except Steve and his friends. He doesn't even know how he trusted Steve after Obadiah.

'The man salts the proverbial bloodstained earth without so much of a glance over his shoulder.'

'All the kills, they seem personal too.'

He thinks back to the apparently creepily, overly dramatic, descriptive part of his brain.

Damit it but he needs to name whatever it is in his head because thinking of it as 20 different things isn't helping and as it seems overly interested in research Dr Stark, it obviously isn't going away anytime soon. For now he decides on Shade. He gets a feeling of a grimace back.

'That sounds like a pets name.'

Oh great, now it's grumpy over its name. Fine.

'Fine, I'll keep calling you it. Be quiet and I'll keep researching Stark.'

'Good, he is interesting. He is like a phoenix with red and gold metal instead of feathers.'

He doesn't hold back the eye roll and carried on reading about Dr Stark and weapons manufacturing.

He's pretty sure he isn't that dramatic and weird so why is something in his brain that bad?

He's not sure what happened fully in those caves, but when he came out he shut down all weapons manufacturing before he'd even healed. He can see the makeup covering the bruises and his arm is clearly immobilised. In one he's eating like he's barely seen food in months.

That gives him an extremely uncomfortable thought.

He stopped making weapons.

Yet he outfits the Avengers, personally creating their equipment, including weapons. Except Steve, where Howard made the shield.

After that declaration of no weapons, he can't imagine making weapons is easy? Maybe he felt comforted by the fact he knew whose hands the weapons would be in. They would be in his families hands, so it would be safe

How they then turned around and used them on him.

He shakes his head, trying to push that back because all of this is just too much information to suddenly learn about a mad he's barely met, a man that should hate him but is helping him.

'So, overly dramatic creepy voice, what is your conclusion on Dr Stark?'

'He's more interesting than you are right now.'

That's when he realises he's been sat for 4 hours researching the man whose parents he killed.

Feeling guilty, he shoves back the strange conclusions he's made about the man, and the frankly disturbing shit the voice came up with, into the back of his mind, flips to a clean page and starts writing his letter. dle it wrong, and I bet it would burn, burn, devour and destroy until nothing is left.'

'Please for the love of God, Stop. That is so disturbing. Who even are you. You're being creepy on purpose now aren't you?'

'Maybe, and maybe I'm you, just separate? Maybe you're a dick who keeps ignoring me?'

'You are not me!'

That's when he realises he's been sat for 4 hours researching the man whose parents he killed.

Feeling guilty, he shoves back the strange conclusions he's made about the man, and the frankly disturbing shit the voice came up with, into the back of his mind, flips to a clean page and starts writing his letter.


	14. Chapter 14 - Expectations

**Expectations**

**Bruce POV **

_**29th September**_

Bruce had been standing in front of the compound for about 10 minutes now, trying to work out the best plan of action. The place was barely recognisable to him, although he could see the original buildings here and there, or what he assumed was the original, with Tony it was always hard to tell and he'd been _busy _, much more so that he'd usually be. There had been _extensive _changes everywhere. There was so much.. _More _. Some of the buildings were nearly triple the height he remembered. There were tons of new buildings, the area was massively expanded and he wasn't sure if that lake had always been there.. It looked like one new section had been renamed as The Guard and recently if he had to guess from the look of the work. There were people moving around in yellow vests, so potentially still under work.

There were also _so many _people. Heck even the _car park _was impressively huge and he was pretty sure he'd never been impressed by a car park but it went underground and everything. He remembered them talking in the press conference that things are done differently now, that it's a legitimate private organisation and standing here he can see it. It was nothing like a rag-tag group of heroes out on their own. Tony had taken his father's million dollar weapons company and turns it into the multi-billion dollar company that was involved in practically anything but weapons. That was like the difference from the old compound to this. It was like seeing what the man was capable of doing when he took something and ran with it, and wasn't held back. It was moderately terrifying.

He didn't think he'd seen any of the Avengers so far, but he'd seen lots of people, in many varieties. From scientists to military folk. Suits, tac gear and white coats. Students too by the looks of them. There was even a bus full of tiny kids on what looked like a tour?

Whilst it was all very impressive, it resulted in the fact that he didn't know where to go first. There were sections sporting the stylised A of the Avengers, even that had been changed slightly, but even then he was a little overwhelmed. Okay. A lot.

It was like a huge, sprawling hospital there were different departments in different buildings that all had their own receptions and getting lost was a distinct possibility. He really wished he had a map. He couldn't head directly towards where the residential quarters were because they were now nestled safely away with no direct access that he could see, something he thought was intentional, and smart. The security looked much, much higher than it had been before. He could see three, spire like buildings from here that he bet were security and he assumed there were more of them around too. Much higher security indeed, more so than the tower at a guess. But after the picture of Tony with the kids, he wasn't surprised.

Hulk was getting irritated with his indecisiveness however. Under the opinion he should just pick a building and that should do it. He'd been about to do just that was he heard a familiar noise of repulsors above him. He looked up and saw Tony coming to land several feet in front of him.

The suit was familiar, yet not at the same time, he seemed to have lost some bulk, it was more fitted? If that was the best description. There was no segments that he could see, it looked to be completely solid yet still allowed movement. The blue glow of the eyes and inverted triangle at his chest was not alone on this version of the armour with points at each side of his collarbone and his chest and lines down his legs too. Bruce wondered if they were actually the Micro-RT nodes Tony had been discussing... His blinked and forced himself to stop assessing Tony's latest version, he wondered just how many suits he had missed? It felt like Tony had come so far and he'd missed it.

What surprised him the most wasn't any of that, it was what happened next. He had expected the helmet to fold back, maybe for Tony to step out of the suit. Or the suit to fold into the suitcase.

He was not expecting the Ironman suit to somehow reform itself into a deep red suit with a black shirt and gold tie as he walked towards him, from metal to fabric it morphed around Tony as he walked over to him, arms wide in greeting. It happened so fast and he was utterly fascinated. He was also wearing matching red tinted sunglasses, honestly, the entire thing was impressive! Hulk was immensely impressed. The change happening seamlessly in-between strides as Tony quickly approached him, grinning widely as if it was normal, but then it probably was normal to Tony he reminded himself glumly. It was him who was behind and it was his own doing.

"I knew you were on the move Bruce, but I didn't know you were coming here! You should have called ahead."

"I decided I'd been gone long enough and wanted to surprise you, clearly I have missed a lot. Plus, Hulk missed his TinMan. He wanted to surprise you too."

"Well, I'm definitely surprised! Come on, let's get inside. I thought someone was pranking me when you turned up on the security feed."

Bruce chuckled whilst glancing around, he hadn't even seen any cameras and what he suspected were security towers were quite far away, also, he hadn't heard a familiar buzz that he got around some technology. He didn't get much from the Hulk in this form, he had the enhanced hearing after all, but since they'd leveled out and come to an agreement after Ultron his senses had improved a lot. But there was none of that. Security was definitely much more impressive than it had once been.

The old set up had pretty much been them being their own security. Steve has been against Tony's requests to have a better system in place. He had agreed with Tony at the time, even superheroes need a break now and then and FRIDAY was just so _young _. Steve had been against letting other people get involved _and _he'd been talking about restricting FRIDAY before he'd left. He had no idea how that had turned out either. It had resulted in a few spectacular arguments at the time, but Bruce had always been impressed at how they could be butting heads, shouting bloody murder and then be sitting drinking coffee with each other later. Laughing and joking.. Mom and Dad to the Avengers.

Knowing that, he really wants to know what _happened _. He'd read about the Accords but that can't just be it. Even when their arguments got heated they came back together, but _somehow _, _something _had broken that. That had left Tony alone in a hospital bed, the others fugitives in the wind. Or was it something that happened gradually after he left? He'd ran after all, and he'd left Tony as Wanda's focus…

"Sorry to just drop in, I probably should have called ahead really, I hadn't expected so much to have changed around here."

"Ah Bruce, you know me. _Always tinkering _. Residential has been entirely revamped but all your stuff was moved to your new suite when it was finished. It's being aired out and stocked now, for however long your staying?"

He really shouldn't have been surprised that Tony had created a suite and kept it for him all this time, but he was.

"Thank you Tony, for having me back. I'm _staying _. I realised recently that for all my travels I was seeing here as home."

Tony looked happy but he could see that he wasn't fully convinced. Bruce knew that was pretty much his own fault, he practically had _'Flight Risk' _tattooed on his head like Tony had _'Security Breach' _on his. This time however he had a feeling that even if he did run, Hulk would drag him right back.

"Well, you always have a place here Bruce."

"I'm glad there is still room, but don't think that you are off the hook for not telling me about the coma or this Civil War fiasco."

Tony sighed as he lead them through the building, the weariness of that sigh dissolved some of Bruce's anger right there on the spot, leaving enough guilt to drown himself in, he wondered if his presence would have made a difference to how things turned out. He realised they seemed to be taking a slightly circuitous route but at the same time they were not running into anyone. Which he was quite thankful of, but as he couldn't hear FRIDAY, he wondered how he knew. _'Probably made the earpieces even smaller.' _he thinks to himself. Hulk isn't as sure. He could hear the voices in others earpieces easily.

"I'll give you the run down in my apartment and then I'll take you to yours, you're on the floor below me.. There are only a few apartments on the top level as they're bigger, made sense to put all the kids together. The floor beneath you is the common floor."

Bruce nodded whilst checking everything out as they went. He felt slightly like a tourist trying to absorb everything. From the outside the residential zone was almost recognisable, but much taller, from inside there wasn't a chance. It seemed a lot cosier though, didn't seem like each floor was a suite anymore, but multiple people on each floor. When they came to the top floor he realised the doors were decorated, one was blank and the one opposite it looked like it was just being started. The 2 at the far end however we're heavily decorated with names and pictures around them. The designs had escaped the doors onto the walls around them. Just from a glance he noted that a lot of people seemed to live with Tony. Quite a difference to his large floors to himself.

"I see you got yourself a few housemates?"

"Just a few, the kids are at school so you're safe for a little while. Peter is going to love you. He goes to a different school than Harl and Ta, but they'll all be around tonight. They're going with Laura and her lot on a road trip this weekend. Platypus is off on a 'not-date'."

Looking around and Tony pulled out some tea that look suspiciously like the box Tony had bought him back at the Tower full of tea, leaving him to make a selection, making himself coffee. The place itself was very different to what he knew about Tony. Walls were utterly covered in pictures of Tony, Rhodes (in a wheelchair, that was going to take some getting used to), the kids and many smiling people he didn't know, he even saw a picture of him and Tony in the lab. Loads of people he didn't recognise, possibly from the press conference.

There were elements here and there, that reminded him of Tony's old floors. It was still very modern, there was a lot of tech, but surfaces weren't bare. Shelves were full. It actually looked _lived in _, more than any of Tony's properties ever had baring his workshop. The decorations looked more organic, like he and someone else designed it, rather than Pepper paying someone. Tony had never really cared about where he slept, just his workshop. This place however, it was warm and as lived in as the chaotic workshop was when he was last here. Even the coffee table was covered in what looked like calculus homework. There was a bookcase that looks purely devoted to school books. From a glance much of it was college level.

"So, where did you get kids from. I know I've been gone a while, but I didn't think I'd been gone that long!"

"Oh, I've known Harley and Tara for years, I mostly just popped in as the weird uncle and I made sure no one knew to keep them safe. Rhodey, Pepper and Happy where the only ones who knew. Harley saved my life during that thing with the Manderin. Peter, well I kind of found him swinging round Queens on spider webs fighting crime."

"I'm sorry, what?!"

Bruce wasn't sure which bit was crazier, he didn't remember Tony mentioning much from the Manderin, he regretted not asking more now, but the thing really throwing him was the crime fighting spider kid?

"Yeah, there was a whole thing with a radioactive spider. He doesn't live here all the time, lives with his Aunt May, but he spends a lot of time here. Best way to keep him safe or he'd go back to crime fighting in his pj's."

Tony rolled his eyes and Bruce was starting to see a resemblance between the two already. Idiots that go and fight crime when they could be at home.

"What about the other two?"

"Oh I'm their legal Guardian. Which was a bit of a shock coming out of a coma to discover, but they helped pull me through."

He couldn't help but smile as his friend was pulling the stereotypical dad move and was showing him pictures on his phone of his kids.

It kind of felt like bizarro world.

'TinMan is different, something happened.'

'Like what?'

'He's.. Buzzy.'

'Buzzy?!'

He just got a grunt in reply.

_Buzzy. _

That was _so _helpfully _descriptive_.

He could see there was a difference in him. Tony had always been sure of himself and carried a certain confidence that Bruce had often longed for, but now he seemed more… settled in himself. It was hard to quantify but there was a certain quality he had now that he didn't have before. He also looked much better, like he was possibly sleeping and eating even! He looked _healthy _.

"So, I have tea, you have coffee. Sit. Tell me about this coma. "

Tony rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, relaxing back into the sofa. Obviously trying to work out where to start from.

"You remember Extremis? That slow version I used to take the Arc Reactor out."

He nodded in response, Dr Cho had worked with it and he'd managed to deactivate it before it even spread from his heart. He also noticed Tony was starting this from the middle.

"And why did you have to use it again?"

"Well, when Vision brought me in, I wasn't in a great way, Dr Cho, Dr Wu and Rhodes used that and the cradle but didn't get anywhere. They left both active for a full 6 days, and whilst I did improve, I stayed under. It was like my body had finally used up its reserves to hang on, and I was still slipping deeper into the coma."

"6 days… That would make deactivating it tricky.."

"Yeah, they worried if I went too deep, that I'd never wake up and just purist at that stage. So they kept it going. At 6 days my protocols let Rhodey have access to my private servers. Not sure if you remember that little side project of mine that you occasionally joined in on in secret?"

"The Extremis virus that we stripped bare and built up as far as possible without causing explosions? Yeah, but that was never intended to be used on people."

"Nope, I'd carried on working on it too, it was much, much larger. But it was all Rhodey had, there wasn't a middle ground, no one involved felt confident to change the formula incase it unbalanced and they couldn't wake me to do it. So Rhodes made the decision and gave it to me, I slipped into a much deeper coma for several more days and I woke up… different. "

Bruce flinched, _dammit _, if he'd been around, he might have been able to strip back the formula for Tony. He didn't outright say it but the implication was there. If Tony had been continuing to work on it, then it was probably more advanced than when he'd left. They'd been trying to increase the speed and strength as well as regeneration abilities without it becoming Unstable back then. Gods know what Tony added in the meantime. Tony had always had more fantastical ideas.

"And you can't neutralise it can you?"

"Nope, I've effectively had the virus 3 times now, it's basically hard coded to my DNA. Even so, it couldn't fix everything, it couldn't regrow dead tissue. I never worked a way around the exothermic overload for the full regrowth properties. Even if I could remove it, I might end up with serious problems."

"Dead tissue? Tony, what put you in this coma? I couldn't find anything online.. Usually big missions are well publicised."

Tony tapped a few times on the back of his left hand, he immediately noticed the sound was.. Off. He was about to question when Tony started speaking.

"You read about the spat me and Steve had?"

"Yeah, the airport, over the Accords?"

"Yeah. Well, we had another one that only select people know about. Turns out he'd been keeping a _big _secret from me. He knew my parents were murdered. He knew who by and he was using me to find him behind my back."

Bruce didn't know what he was more shocked by, Steve, who had berated Tony so much about secrets, had kept something so _monumental _from him or that it had ended with Tony in a coma. He knew Tony's relationship and connections to his parents were fraught with a lot he left unsaid, Bruce recognised signs from himself so he didn't push, he didn't want to talk about it so he doubted Tony did.

Tony had spent practically his entire life hating a drunk driver to discover he was a murder victim? That must be hard to deal with.

He also had to wonder just how this had been kept from the press so well. He suspected things would have been more crazed if that picture of him in the hospital had that the damage was done by Captain America! He was also eyeing Tony's hand because the tapping really did not sound like flesh on flesh, especially with his hearing so enhanced.

"Shit Tony. That is.. _What happened _?"

Tony noticed his less than subtle staring. Rolled his eyes, snagging a tablet from somewhere, a hologram popping up, he stared for a few seconds, amazed at how far even this had come in his absence. With a few flicks he brought up information about his hand so he could look through as they spoke. In his defence, he'd been away from people for a long time, plus, this was Tony. If anyone didn't care for keeping to social conventions it was him. When he passed it over, he tapped his hand again, the flesh colour receding into a red disk, his hand was a matte black, he couldn't see how far up it went however.

"I found all that crap out in Hydra base, in Siberia. In front of the man, who by the way, is Bucky Barnes. Caps best pal from the 40s. Another super soldier, seriously there must have been something in the water back then, who Hydra had in the freezer when he wasn't being a brainwashed assassin."

He paused in his manipulation of the image of the hand, Tony's cybernetic hand, he was nauseated to think that Tony's hand, wrist and half his forearm had to be amputated. Because of _Steve _. He really wanted to know how something like that could happen. Yeah he got that Steve and Tony were fighting, but to have a limb amputated, with all the med tech and Extremis that Tony had available? That was quite serious. Even before he left, Tony's med tech was amazing. Healing things in days that took weeks. So far however pretty much every time Tony spoke, things just got.. More confusing.

"Bucky Barnes?! Hydra? _What _?"

He removed his glasses, rubbing his hands over his face before concentrating on cleaning them. He'd expected some strange stuff, but this just seemed insane.

"We ended up fighting after Cap admitted he knew. Had known. For _years _. My suit ended up disabled via a vibranium Frisbee to the chest and I spent some time enjoying spring in Siberia until Vision came. I'll send you files on Barnes and everything so you can get up to date. This is like a… recap."

It was obvious he didn't want to be taking any this, evident by how he managed to be almost flippant as he mentioned being in Siberia in a powered down Ironman suit. He knew it wasn't uncommon for temperatures to drop to -40°C in the winter. He guessed the amputation was due to frostbite, just the idea of that set his teeth on edge and he had to calm himself down, Hulk was pissed, Tony was probably lucky that he only lost one hand. He desperately wanted to ask him if anything else was damaged, but he had some tact.

Vibranium Frisbee.. Steve. Oh gods, he slammed that shield into the arc reactor?! In a way, they're lucky it just powered down, that could have wiped the base off of the map.

It also made sense at the lack of press, they could be tenacious when it came to following Tony, but the middle of Siberia in a secret Hydra base was apparently too much even for them.

"What else did Extremis change?"

"I have some interesting abilities now, faster, stronger and all that stuff we coded in. You know we theorised that Extremis could potentially allow a person to interface with technology?"

"Yeah?"

Tony just grinned as the TV in front of them turned on.

"The compound is easy, it's how I saw you outside, I can see the feeds in my head, outside of the compound its not as seamless, but I've been practicing. It helps that my tech is everywhere."

"I had been coming up with all manner of awful things that had happened to you, somehow you've blown them all out of the water. You going to show me what's behind the glasses? You never wore them around me before."

He gestured to the glasses before turning his attention back to the tablet. Hoping to give Tony space and to not feel too pressured. Instead of pulling the glasses off however, Tony touched them and they dissolved into a silver looking dust and vanished into his sleeve, not noticing that Bruce's eyebrows shot up at that as his eyes were shut. Tony had a habit of getting comfortable with a certain level and advancement in tech and forgetting that not everyone is there yet. He'd never thought he'd be so far behind again and not for the first time he was hit with a sense of loss and a wish that he hadn't gone on the run, again. He still wasn't sure how to bring up Ultron, how to apologise, but he figured now might not be the best plan, it would be selfish to dump that now after all this. Tony still had his eyes closed when he spoke again.

"Don't freak out."

He'd been about to assure him he wouldn't when he just opened his eyes and there was a moment he very nearly did. It was like seeing the eyes from the suit but in his head, the most jarring thing was that it was only one eye. He wondered if it would be less strange if both of his eyes had been affected? His usual whiskey brown was a glaring contrast next to the bright, shining arc reactor blue on the other side. It also meant that like his hand, his left eye must have been beyond repair.

"That's certainly different, the colour is a lot like your reactor."

"Yeah, we never factored in what traces of Starkanium in the blood would do to Extremis. Apparently the answer is _'weird shit' _. I _See _things.."

"Things?"

"Yeah, colours around people mostly. I can see that Hulk is listening, I can see you both as separate beings in there, he's slightly back. It's.. hard to explain."

Well that was different and maybe what Hulk had mentioned? Maybe with his increased senses Hulk could feel something that he couldn't?

"Well, that really hadn't been something we'd predicted. But then we'd never intended it to be used or mixed with anything else, I'm happy you did though. I'd rather have you with us and weird than not at all."

Tony shot him a grin and he tried to push down the dread that folded over him at the idea that Tony could have died alone, cold in Siberia whilst he'd been sitting in a foreign country none the wiser.

Or he could have never come out of the coma.

How long until he'd have realised something was wrong?

Every time that he'd gone on the run, he'd always been thinking about how he needed to get away.

He'd always expected things to be the same back here. Tony and Steve heading the team, saving people.

Tony was his constant.

It had never even occurred to him that Tony might not be there for him to return to. It was like being doused in freezing water that he might have died and who would have even known to message him?

The idea of standing in a foreign country reading about the death of Ironman. Of Tony Stark? In some random newspaper or overhearing a discussion. It was hard to pin back the shudder. He noticed that Tony was looking at him, no around him frowning slightly.

"I'm fine Bruce, I'm just a little different, still here. It's taken some getting used to, but I'm getting better. I'll send you some more information as this speedy recap is missing it a lot. Here, this is the Extremis code that we used, just make sure no one else sees it. And stop feeling guilty."

He was about to say something about how crazy this situation was that Tony was trying to make HIM feel better when in reality, Tony should be mad at him. But a noise above Tony's head drew his attention and distracted him.

Was that… A cat flap?

"Oh Bruce, you have to meet Goose!"

"You have a cat? That has cat flaps? In the vents?"

The vents reminded him so much of Clint it shocked him before he remembered that he was also gone. His first thought was what would Clint think about a cat being in his vents, followed up quickly with nothing, because he isn't here. Just, so _much _had changed, there were so many new Avengers to meet that it was nerve racking. He hoped it went better than the original way he'd met the Avengers. That was a low bar, but still.

"She's not mine, but she uses the vents to visit me from Carol's apartment. I eventually installed cat flaps for her so she'd stop whacking the grates open."

Tony scooped up the oddly named cat who immediately started purring and headbutting him.

"Huh. Okay."

"She's also an alien. A space cat."

He didn't really know if there was anything he could say about that. He really couldn't tell if Tony was joking.

Tony spent a while explaining all of the new people to him, he still wasn't sure if the space at comment was a joke or not. He was surprised to find out that a few of them were already friends with Tony and wondered just how much of his life he kept separate from the Avengers. That had obviously changed. There were a few people he was definitely interested in meeting, learning that in infamous surgeon, Dr Strange had become a sorcerer, oh sorry, The Sorcerer Supreme, that was definitely weird. By the time Tony was getting ready to show him to his rooms he felt like he'd been through an information flood and was surprised how much time had vanished.

Gold suddenly flashed in Tony's right eye and he broke out into a huge grin.

"Well, if you don't want to be inundated with children, you might want to head to your room because they just got dropped off and are heading this way."

He considered running to his rooms, but decided not to. These kids were important to Tony and dodging them straight after coming back seemed unkind. Even if it was terrifying.

"I don't mind, I'd like to meet them if you don't mind. And do you just know everything that is happening around here?"

The smile on his friends face told him that he'd made the right decision.

"You can stay for dinner if you like? I have access to pretty much everything FRIDAY has, except things with privacy locks, and there is more space in here. I've been rendering Rhodey's latest braces design at the same time, and a few StarPhone and StarkPad upgrades.."

The idea of a person being capable of most of FRIDAY'S routines was a lot, he wondered just how much Extremis had changed his mind as Tony flicked his fingers towards Bruce's tablet and the braces came up, things changing as he ran them through different tests. The speed it was happening was frankly amazing and Tony didn't seem to be actively focusing on it, he got so lost in it he hadn't even noticed Tony had made his way to the kitchen and was pulling things out. He jumped up, shocked to see Tony cooking.

"So, you cook now?"

"Oh laugh it up. Me and Peter require an annoying amount of food, as does Carol when she visits. Plus, the kids are not allowed to live on takeout. With so many of us having increased metabolism, we have to be careful. Luckily I prepped this earlier, lasagne in the oven. Just sides and Peters insistence that I eat vegetables."

Tony rolled his eyes and Bruce joined in helping, he had missed cooking for more than one person. Cooking for yourself got boring pretty quick and food just became fuel whilst on the move. Cooking for other people.. It had a different feel to it, he hadn't noticed much before he moved in with the Avengers, but having big meals with several people had become important to him.

The door opened quite loudly, Tony just rolled his eyes so he guessed it was normal. 3 young girls skidded into the room and froze staring at Bruce. He was slightly confused as Tony had only mentioned 1 girl but he didn't seem concerned. 3 teenage boys were not far behind the tallest with floppy hair spotted him first and gave him a critical look. One looked slightly concerned, a little nervous and the other, which he'd guess by the gobsmacked response would potentially be Peter that Tony had mentioned.

"You're Dr Banner!"

That seemed to unstick everyone as 2 of the girls mobbed Tony, the 3rd was a little unsure and Tony squatted down to talk to her.

"You joining us for dinner today then Cassie? And yes Peter, that is Dr Banner. Brucie bear, meet the hyper hoard. Hoard, meet bruce."

The shy girl gave Tony a quick hug as the other girls detached, waved at him and ran towards the table. Tony rolled his eyes but was smiling.

"Tara sets up the table because everyone else does it wrong."

Out of the 3 teenagers, one was leveling quite an impressive glare at him, that was Harley if he remembered right from the pictures, Peter was just bouncing up and down. The slightly more nervous teen moved to Tony, leaning on him in what he assumed was a teenage boy version of a hug. Tony immediately wrapped an arm around him and the relief on the kids face was palpable. He was sure he recognised him, but the name wasn't coming to him.

"Uncle Tony, mom will be around later, can you help me with my calculus homework again?"

"Sure thing Coop, I'd love to help. Harley, be nice. Peter, you are going to end up on the ceiling if you don't calm down."

Coop? Cooper maybe? He mentioned Laura earlier, but he still found himself surprised that Barton's kids had such a level of familiarity with Tony and the younger girl he didn't even slightly recognise. Harley rolled his eyes and he couldn't help but see Tony in the kid, just a Tony with actual height. Harley and Tony bumped shoulders and quietly spoke as Peter practically vibrated over to him. Cooper stayed quite close to Tony glancing over at Bruce, as if trying to figure him out. He seemed to be nervous with new faces if he had to guess, but then they did live on a farm in the middle of nowhere last he'd checked.

"Hi Dr Banner, I've read all 7 of your dissertations."

"I, uh, hope they were interesting?"

Tony was smirking at him over Harleys shoulder and Bruce wasn't entirely sure what to do but thankfully Peter was able to carry the conversation with questions that he found easy to answer. After so long away, it was nice to be talking _science _. With someone as enthusiastic as this kid was, it was great.

He hadn't even heard Laura come in, she was just suddenly there holding a young child practically in front of him. Tony immediately shot forward much to his shock and scooped up the kid who was patting his face.

"Ohh gimme! Hello Niblet."

"Ah, I see we have another for dinner today?"

Laura took up what Tony had been working on as Tony was talking to the kid. Now he'd known in _theory _that Tony liked kids. But seeing it was incredibly strange. Tony was full on smiling and cradling a tiny child. It was _weird _.

"Yup, Laura this is Bruce, I don't know why I just introduced you because I just remembered that you've already met. Bruce this is Nibbles, he's so cute it should be illegal."

"Tony, you go play with Nate, I'll finish up."

She rolled her eyes as Tony flashed her and Bruce a grin before heading in the direction the others had headed after setting up the table, the teens followed closely. Yeah, it was definitely a weird seeing so many children practically hanging off of his friend. The girls had sat on the floor around his legs, Cooper, who apparently was the owner of the books he'd seen earlier, which was impressive because he'd thought they belonged to a much older student, was quietly asking him questions, leaning against him. Harley was also leaning against him on the other side and occasionally shooting him looks over his shoulder. He had a feeling that Harley did not like him. Tony didn't even glance but with the arm not holding Nate, reached out and tugged Harley against him, ruffling his hair. The teen complained vocally, but Bruce noticed that he didn't pull away. The whole thing was adorable.

"Were off for the whole weekend, Tony was going to come but a bunch of work got dumped on him. He's insisted we still go, but the kids will miss him. It's pretty normal for them to sit like that around him however, he's only recently noticed it."

Now that sounded like Tony.

"We have to make lots of pictures for him though! And bring back souvenirs! Make sure it's as if he's with us!"

Peter seemed like it was a mission which was cute, then the kid grinned at him, jumped. Stuck the ceiling and walked over to others. Bruce just blinked before remembering what Tony said about radioactive spiders. Which apparently lead to walking on the ceiling. Because reasons?

"Yeah. You get use to Pete after a while."

"I'm not sure that's possible.."

He eyed the boy hanging from the ceiling, chatting to the others as if he was just stood in front of him and Tony caught his eye and grinned. As strange as it was, it oddly worked. Cooper, Clints kid had somehow found his way under Tony's arm too as the looked over the book, Harley and Peter were playing catch with a scrunched up ball of paper, which would have been normal, except Peter was still on the ceiling. Nate? The kid was curled up against Tony's chest, babbling happily, occasionally patting Tony's face, obviously fond of his left eye. The girls were clustered together at his feet. There were loads of free seats, they were just pulled to Tony like magnets.

"FRIDAY, take some pictures for me?"

"I have taken several Ms Morgan and will distribute them to everyone on the list."

Tony was always trying to make a home for people, adults might not have noticed how important that was, not until it was almost too late, like him. But kids, they were the kind to notice and it was clear, they gravitated towards him, it was obvious they saw safety in him. Plus, from what little he knew so far, he guessed that not many of them had had an easy life. The Barton's (Morgan's?) had their father being a wanted fugitive gods know where. (Although he had to admit, with Tony's uncanny ability to find him. He probably knew where the others were.) Before that they'd been quite isolated at that farm. Harley and Tara had found themselves parentless and Tony in a coma, and Peter only had an aunt mentioned, that spoke of loss somewhere. He didn't know the story of the other little one, but she was tentative when they arrived but was now curled around Tony's leg. Tony's need to give people a home, it obviously meant a lot to all of them.

Dinner was chaotic, but it was the best meal he'd had in a _long _time. Eating with people, Maggie and Jim turned up as well and he discovered that Cassie was their girl. No one mentioned why they were at the compound and he figured he'd ask Tony later, they were new to the compound which was why their door was slightly bare compared to the others. Cassie had quietly asked Tony to draw her butterflies around her name and watching Tony get all flustered and blushing was a definite highlight of the meal.

He'd been worried transitioning back into being near people would be hard, but he found it oddly easy with these people. The kids took most of the attention, Peter had discovered even more questions to ask him, Harley still glared however, but most importantly no one was scared of him. He found out that practically all of them were in advanced placement of some kind in different areas. Even the younger ones, Lilah would apparently take anything to pieces and Tara preferred software engineering. They couldn't be older than 10 yet were very excited about these things!

By the time he eventually headed back to his room, the tablet Tony had given him was now apparently his and it had so much on it for him to look into. Including the Accords. He wanted to read and find out exactly what had happened whilst he was gone, read this document that finally ignited the chemical bomb the Avengers were and find out more about what Steve had done to Tony. He'd also included more information about Siberia and what had happened in his absence. He understood why Tony was doing it this way, as casual and flippant as he tried to be, Tony was still hurting.

The rooms were smaller than they had been, but were still very nice, a kitchenette attached to a living room and a few rooms off to the side which Tony had showed him were a bedroom, study and bathroom. Compared to his tent it was huge. All his stuff was in boxes, and looking around, he was surprised how _much _there was.

For years he'd lived out of the bag, never owning much as he wouldn't be able to take it with him. Without realising it he noticed, he must have seen the tower and here as home. He'd not amassed so much stuff since before the Hulk was born.

He settled in to sort out his things and read the Accords.

**Carol POV **

**_1st October_**

Rhodes has texted her over an hour ago now that he couldn't find Tony. He'd completely vanished. He'd thrown himself into work pretty much the second the kids went off for the trip on Thursday. He'd avoided speaking to people and had skipped out on dinners and breakfasts. He'd even ducked out from going to lunch with Shay yesterday. All in all, Carol had been increasingly concerned, but at the same time she'd had been watching, waiting for something like this to happen.

Tony had come out and told a lot of people lots of deeply painful things, he was still dodging any talk about Matt appealing his case about Ultron and generally avoided talking about it at all. Then Bruce had come back and he'd had to talk about everything again and from what Rhodes had told her, he hadn't brought up that Bruce skipping Town had dumped all of the anger, blame, and hatred born from that event squarely onto his shoulders. He'd pretty much flat out ignored Ultron. He'd given an extremely light recap of events too.

Rhodes had hoped Bruce coming back would be helpful for teaching Tony control with his abilities. Bruce had to have a certain degree of emotional control when it came to the Hulk and he knew that Tony had missed him. They had had a good talk the day after he'd arrived apparently, Bruce had given him meditation tapes and Carol thought they were okay. They'd even spent some time discussing his abilities without Tony pulling faces at the word _'ability' _.

Then Tony practically vanished into his work. Rhodes said it was pretty normal and she might have been convinced to stay back.

But she'd had a _feeling _.

She'd had it since Tony had shown them everything and it had been steadily building up like pressure. Tony had always seemed to feel he wasn't _allowed _to feel bad, and as such, he shoved everything down and got angry at himself over what he perceived as weakness in himself. She had no idea what had created such behaviour, she just knew the line her and Rhodey got out of him in college. 'Stark men are made of Iron.' She'd hoped in her time off planet, whilst he was with Rhodes, that he would have found some peace regarding that. Rhodes hadn't updated her on everything she'd missed, she thought that maybe he was waiting for Tony to do it.

As a teen he'd been far to good at hiding pain but lacked even the most basic socialising skills or knowledge of friend groups and got by on bravado mostly. She'd hoped in the time she'd been away that it had improved, that he'd been around good people, really it seemed like he'd just gotten better at hiding things and playing the part people _expected _of him. For a while it seemed he had lost himself to it. He'd confessed to her once that it was exhausting to mask that much, and sometimes he wondered if he wore it so much that he'd lose himself. That he wondered if he even knew basic facts about himself because he'd spent so long being 'on'.

Maybe because he was still this scrawny, awkward, gangly teen to her, it was easier for her to see through it. He was better in _some _ways, he was much happier now, but he was still stuffing things down as if he wasn't allowed to feel them.

There was no way someone like _Tony _could finally just open up and tell people something he'd been hiding so well, not when it was connected to such highly emotional and volatile events, not without _something _happening. Especially with this habit of bottling up. Of not giving himself a chance to feel. It will escape somewhere. Whether it was explosive or Tony pulling back into himself, she didn't know.

After Rhodes told her that he'd practically boiled himself in a shower hot enough to scald him in seconds through layers of towels, just to get warm again? Yeah, she'd been watching.

FRIDAY couldn't tell them where he was, she knew it wasn't because Tony had ordered her not to. After a few panic attacks, Rhodey had an override for that. His extremis abilities almost seemed to have acted for him in other events, like when he was cold or panicked, it kept raising the temperature. Now, it was concealing him.

Rhodey had used all the overrides and still FRIDAY didn't know where he was, and neither did CERBERUS. All they knew was that he hadn't left the compound. Rhodes and the AIs were scanning through the security now after confirming he hadn't left. Even if he had a disruptor on, Rhodes knew what to look for. Tony had gotten the disruptors to work very well, but what looked like a lense flare, small and barely noticeable, was left but if you knew what you were looking for, you could find the person using it.

She could move faster, especially outside, so she was combing the outside of the compound. She'd finished the woods and was now flying loops around to see if she could get a hint of where to go next or for Rhodes to message her.

There was a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye and she felt a pull to her left. Not questioning the gut instinct she immediately followed it and finally saw Tony sat on the edge of the tallest building in the compound. Feet dangling over the edge, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Looking out over the lake. He was wearing jeans that looked to be made of oil stains and mess, and a very loose looking long sleeved shirt.

His hand uncovered, but she knew that was because Peter had taken it back for tweaking. He also wasn't wearing glasses. Any other day, seeing him so uncaring about covering these things would make her happy, but today she doubted it was because he was _accepting _these things.

She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but he looked thinner too, even after such a short amount of time. She doubted he'd been eating enough for his increased metabolism. He practically had a sharp, fractured aura around him, unsure why she was feeling like that, maybe she was just projecting but she felt a connection to the man and wondered if it was the tesseract that had had a hand in both their changes, shaking her head, that wasn't important right now, only that it had maybe helped her find him, so she pushed on to speak to him.

She landed on the smaller roof in front of him, not wanting to come up and land on the ledge from behind, even if a suit could catch him if he fell. Heck, with his augmentations he might even be able to land safe, but now wasn't the time to test that. She then hopped the gap to land next to him. Slowly sitting down next to him, slightly concerned that he had barely acknowledged her presence, even when he went into the uplink he kept an eye on people around him usually, there was no flash gold in his eye, so it didn't look like he was in the uplink. She fired of a text to Rhodes about where he was, only to get a string of profanity back. His chair couldn't reach this roof apparently.

"Tony?"

He didn't reply but he straightened his back, staring at the woods instead, it was dark out and it was chilly enough that people outside were thick wearing coats, so Tony sat in a thin looking shirt would be strange normally, with his current aversion to anything slightly cold it was setting of alarm bells in her head.

"Hey, Tony, why don't we go inside where it's warm, okay? It's freezing out here."

Dammit why didn't she bring a coat?

"You know the desert at night is freezing too. Especially when you're trapped in a cave network in dirty, shredded clothes.. "

There was so little tone or inflection in how he spoke that it was just making her worry _more _. She wanted to get him inside and cursed herself for not bringing a coat for the second time, but now she was here, she didn't want to run off and get one.

"If you want to talk about what happened, let's do it inside, Rhodey can make hot chocolate."

"The days, they burned. Scorched the sand. The heat was dry, oppressive but so dry that it felt like you hadn't drank in days.. Made your skin burn, redden and crack. Even in the caves it was oppressive. But I was never alone. Not like Siberia. Yinsen.. He…"

"Come on Tony, your shivering, please come inside.."

He carried on talking as if she wasn't there or talking to him. She wasn't sure what to do, grabbing him and dragging him inside was tempting but she knew would be bad. He was at least responding to her presence as he didn't talk until she sat down. She had no idea who Yinsen was, but then she really didn't know much about about Afghanistan.

"The shakes hurt you know, when you are freezing, especially with my injuries, but when they stop… When they stop is when you really start to worry.

Well, I tried to worry, but the confusion was setting in and it was hard, I passed out a few times and I'm pretty sure I was delirious, and I kept trying to remember _why _I was scared. _Why _would I be scared that I had finally stopped shaking?"

She really wanted to text Rhodey and ask what she could do in this situation. They were friends, but Rhodey had been here when she couldn't. He would know what to do.

"Because the shaking fucking hurt. But not shaking.. Not shaking meant something. Meant something worse, but thinking got harder and I was thinking that it was great. That it stopped. It meant the metal wasn't slicing into me. It wasn't ripping apart skin that had frozen to the icy metal.

But part of me _knew _it was bad. The shaking stopping meant the body was so desperate to conserve what little energy it had left, that it gave up trying to save my limbs."

"Tony, please, come inside, you'll feel better if you warm up a bit, get some food?"

"The cold burned after a while. My hands felt on fire, my legs, even my face and Gods, my _back _..."

He finally turned and faced her, his face unreadable but his eyes focused directly on her and she noticed that Tony gaze had a sort of weight to it. To having all of that intellect focused on you. She'd never noticed it before when he was smiling and chatting, but now it was like a force unto itself.

"Carol, Why am I always finding myself on fire or freezing?

I just traded in the sand and burning heat for ice and howling wind. The dessert froze at night, and I was burning from the ice in Siberia."

"I don't know sweetheart but you aren't there now, you're here, with you're friends and family."

He nodded before looking back out over the trees and Carol wished she knew more about his time in Afghanistan and afterwards so she could know what was best to do in this situation. She didn't want to do something to make him worse so she felt utterly useless, because whilst sitting out in the chilly October speaking in a slightly disjointed fashion was definitely not good. She knew that it could be much worse.

The least she could do was listen. Maybe getting it out would help?

"It's weird things like that that stuck out you know. Like back in Afghanistan."

She had a feeling she'd regret asking this question, but she did it anyway.

"What stood out from Afghanistan?"

"When they hold you under water, the pain isn't so much the water flooding your lungs, well that hurts but holding your breath hurts more. But you can't stop it. Fuck I even tried a few times, but you can't until you hit the edge. Even though I knew they'd bring me up, bring me back, I couldn't speed it up. Couldn't let that breath go. Even if you scream, it's like… Just enough gets held back a bit."

She's not sure what she can even say to that, she knew so little about Afghanistan, that he was asked to make weapons, apparently had open heart surgery which was the only bit of information he'd told her directly. But he'd been waterboarded too? She couldn't think about it much as Tony pulled one of his legs up, resting the side of his head on his knee, tilted slightly in her direction. Still talking in that detached, oddly clinical way.

"That stupid survival instinct.. It stops you from opening your mouth, from letting the water in until your head feels like it's actually exploding, like white explosions behind your eyelids, this pressure builds and builds in your head, 'till you can feel blood thundering in your brain and you have to wonder…

"If you keep holding your breath, what damage is it doing? What are you losing with each second you can't stop it? Then it snaps and the water surges in and for a second there is no pain that your almost floating."

His snap of his fingers when he said snaps made her jump slightly, she starts to speak but he carries on.

" Then you're choking up rancid water into the bucket and you get a few breaths, if your lucky, and then it's down again. Rinse and repeat. Over and over.

"Like the shaking though, none of that was the worst part."

She can't help but blink at that. Her brain scrambling to predict what he's going to say next, wanting to text Rhodes for advice without being rude and wanted to wrap him up from the world. She'd already known he'd been through too much, but having him talk about being tortured for months with so little inflection concerned her.

"The worst part… the worst part was that the idiots seemed to fucking forget they'd strapped an car battery to power the fucking electromagnetic in my chest, that was keeping me alive.

"Occasionally water would hit the wires and.. Spark, burning my skin and I could feel it inside me. So I tried not to move, I tried so hard to be still whilst they held me under, so the water wouldn't splash, but apparently if people hold you underwater it's hard to be still.

"I should have died in Afghanistan, but I just kept on going."

"You got out though. Those people can't do that to you again."

He nodded before looking back over the forest again.

"In Siberia, no one was torturing me, I was just left. There was no one to beat. No one to trick. Just pain, haggered breaths, the taste of blood and ice, the creeping cold that took parts of me away bit by bit. And I was such a pathetic idiot because I was so sure Rogers would tell someone where I was."

"Tony, you won't be left again, you can't get rid of us that easily. Expecting a friend to tell people where you were doesn't make you pathetic. It makes him an atrocious human being."

He hummed non committedly and Carol shifted closer to him. She wanted to hug him but still didn't want to startle him so just brushed her shoulder against him and sat there. It took awhile but he eventually leaned against her.

"You know what the worst part is about this damned ability? I don't get to be mad. I don't get to be fucking angry. Just one look at Nat, T'Challa, Shay, Bruce.. and its _gone _because I can _See _. I know it sounds selfish, but sometimes I just want to be angry."

"You're still allowed to be angry, even if people had reasons Tony."

"But you can't _See _Natka. She didn't betray me because of any of the reasons I felt, Rogers.. He.. He was her _anchor_ after Clint left. He was literally her _moral compass _. Even though she agreed with me she followed because that's what she does and she felt it would lead to less loss of life because it was Roger's. The others too, I can _See _why they did what they did, how they're hurting and all I feel is an _overwhelming _desire to _Help _that I _can't turn it off." _

Carol wasn't sure she could understand that, but then Tony did have a greater understanding about things like this and she couldn't argue it. They way he'd forgiven them was amazing, she didn't think she could have forgiven them. Helped them. That fact he felt compelled to help didn't sit comfortably with her, he should be allowed to be angry. His emotions mattered just as much but again he was putting himself aside to help others. They'd have to work out a way to protect him from this.

"It doesn't mean you didn't get hurt though. It doesn't mean you're feelings don't matter just as much as theirs."

"That never really matters."

His shrug and bland tone at that definitely had her concerned.

"Of course it matters Tony. That matters a damned lot."

"What happens if I See Rogers and it wipes my anger? I don't want to let him close again, I can't trust him. I'm terrified I'll See him and be compelled to help and I'll be right back to where we were post Ultron. Living on the edge, hated, worse because I'll actually See how much, useful for my money, barely tolerated "

"Well if that happens look to Rhodey. He's still angry at _everyone _. Things will never be like that again Tony, the team, the kids, they adore you. We've missed you in just these last few days! "

He huffed and leaned against her a little more, she felt his temperature raising to combat the cold and took it as a good sign for now.

She fired of a text explaining what had happened and was shocked to find Rhodes relieved? That he hadn't blown things, or himself up, was apparently Rhodes base level and he told her that he'd explain what she was missing with Tony if he was OK with it. Whilst she was kind of intrigued, Tony's unemotional delivery of his trials deeply concerned her, she was definitely going to start looking for a therapist he could potentially trust as soon as they were inside.

It took about an hour before she managed to coax him inside, no one said anything about it but everyone came over for an absolutely huge dinner and stuck around long after for movies. Basically creating a puppy pile around Tony. She started looking through the therapists on staff and short listed a few.

Carol knew it wasn't a snap fix, but he'd eaten and eventually fallen asleep, with his legs on Rhodey and his head in her lap in the middle of a movie. Her fingers combing through his hair. Whilst not a fix, it was better than not eating and hiding away, clearly his enhanced metabolism had a nasty rebound affect. He'd eaten nearly double his normal portion and he still looked a little off. Extremis could burn a lot of his energy and body it seemed in a short period of time.

Rhodes looked finally relaxed, smiled at her and mouthed '_Thank You_.'

She looked down at him, twitching slightly in his sleep, curled in, protecting his chest even now. He calmed when she started combing his hair again, Levi fluttered over and draped over Tony too. The look on Stephens face was thunderous but his eyes softened when they fell on Tony. The Sorcerer had _requested _any files from when Tony was admitted from Rhodes, he only had hard copies, Tony would have found digital ones and he'd given them up under threat of falling for an hour. The sorcerer had been incandescent with rage at first and in a snap it was gone, so similar to Tony, they could burn and burn with anger until it reached a certain point, until it iced over. He'd promised to stay his hand for now, but eventually he would have words and no one would stand in his way.

If she'd ever doubted how close Tony was with the man, seeing the look on his face now wiped it. They might not be related, Tony might be older, but Stephen saw Tony as a little brother. Today had been a reminder to how close he'd gotten to losing him.

**Rhodey POV **

_**2nd October**_

"He sent me a sodding letter!"

Tony practically shrieked as he all but flounced dramatically into the room where Rhodey was lying on the floor, face set in a grimace as he finished up his daily torture. Also known as _'Physical Therapy' _.

He'd usually complain about the dramatic flouncing, especially when he was utterly knackered, but after the scare last night… Tony dramatically flouncing into rooms was an extreme improvement he was happy to see it.

Jules had just left, which was pretty good for Tony, because she'd been emailing him exercises designed for enhanced humans for a while now for Tony, he knew she wasn't the kind to spill information but he'd still kept the extent of Tony's augmentations quite limited. She already knew Tony had Extremis and had helped him deal with the excess energy problem he'd had in the beginning, there had been so many explosions before then that he'd been desperate. Now, he had just timed things so she saw Tony moving his equipment around to give her a better idea with Tony having to have yet another _discussion _.

Tony had already gotten slightly used to his enhanced strength and occasionally _forgot _about it. Because that was just Tony. Picking up extremely heavy pieces of equipment and carrying them around the lab for example. So Jules had been reworking her original plans for him to adapt for it. He took the advice, grumpily, usually. But Tony knew when to listen to others for things he was not an expert in and Jules had been with SHIELD for decades helping humans, supers and everything in between. After last night however, he didn't want Jules to dump that on him now. Give him some kind of a chance to bounce back first.

He'd _known _having the kids go without him was a bad idea. A catastrophically bad idea, so bad he was currently ignoring Pepper.

Tony, having not gotten a response from him flopped down on the chair in front of him and continued ranting at him. That's about when he actually processed what he'd said. _'Wait? Who sent a letter _?'

"Just what is it with this supposed _greatest generation _and their weird attachment to sending me letters? On paper! In the post! The post is for buying things online. Not this _antiquated _form of correspondence."

Tony has a grimace on his face, holding the letter out in front of him with an expression Rhodes thinks would make more sense if he was holding a dirty diaper rather than a letter. Considering Tony occasionally dealt with Nate with more grace than holding that letter, it was highly amusing.

"Of course it is, it has no other use at all- wait. Greatest generation? What? Rogers send you another 'non apology'?"

Rhodey added a sneer to the end, remembering that letter, a poor attempt to poke Tony's buttons and have him lay down from them to trample over, again. At least that's how he'd read it. _'Sucks for them!' _he can't help but think, as far as he'd known, Tony had read it once and tossed it and the phone in a draw somewhere. Maybe even in the trash. Hopefully forgotten, he'd never mentioned it again anyway. He hated to think what would have happened if he'd read it before spending a solid 2 weeks with Harley and Tara. They really helped Tony start to see things _differently _. So it had been harder for Rogers to sink his hooks in.

Thanks to that bastard Tony had to live with the consequences of his lies. He hated what had happened to his brother in Siberia and how utterly helpless he was to do anything about it. He'd woken up and Tony had been missing, no one knew where or even how long he'd been gone as FRIDAY'S data had been purged. All they knew was half off a distress call, location Siberia with no time or date. Vision had combed Siberia, day and night searching for him. It hadn't been until day 6 after they got him back until FRIDAY could even show him the fight from the suit camera. So they had no idea who had even done this, although they had assumptions. The shield, the arm, the damage of the suit…

How he will forever have the image of his brother, seared into his mind, from when the suit was removed. Sometimes he still sees it when he closes his eyes.

Last night had vividly reminded him that those hours in the cold, alone, just like those months in that cave, had wrought fundamental changes in Tony. Carved into his skin, settled in his mind. Carol had told him some of what Tony had said on the roof, she'd been pale and utterly furious at the same time and he'd ended up telling her more about Afghanistan, about Stane, about the palladium poisoning, about Shield. He hadn't even gotten to New York yet. All with Tony's blessing, he didn't feel up to having the conversation of the top 10 worst moments in his life.

Tony had basically a bomb dropped on his life, again, by Rogers. Yet another person he trusted betraying him. Being forced to adapt to everything changing again, let alone adapting to Extremis, was not something he'd be over with a shitty _apology _letter. Although being surrounded by people who give instead of just taking was _finally _starting to get through to him.

He doubted even he'd seen all the changes in Tony yet. It took him a while to adapt to Tony post Afghanistan, he'd been quicker of the mark this time around however. Less expecting him to revert to form. More able to be present. Less angry. Looking back at how he'd reacted he was angry at himself. He'd been such an idiot to think he'd taken the suit without Tony's blessing. Sure, it was just a coincidence that it was made for his height and build, that the HUD was tailored for him, that the power source was in the armour. That the security was down. The whole thing had been a set up, he doubted he'd even been drunk, but he had been under the influence of severe heavy metal poisoning. He liked to think he'd grown since then, become a better friend, a better brother, both of them had. There were to many memories of him failing Tony to not be careful now, he still had nightmares of Thor's hands around his breakable human neck as he'd just fucking stood there.

"Oh no, nothing from him since that insult of a phone."

Tony jars Rhodey from his thoughts, confusing him slightly.. Tilting his head..

"So who else is sending you… Wait. Tell me you are not getting fan mail from freaking Bucky Barnes?!"

"No, no -"

"Praise be the God's -"

"He apparently hates being called Bucky, and he sent a thank you slash apology, not fan mail."

As if that clears things up?!

"Wait. I'm so lost in this conversation. What is '_ Barnes _' thanking you for? The last interaction you two had he tried to tear out your arc reactor and you blasted his arm off! I know his brain is mulch, but those actions are not the kind to produce thank you letters.. "

"Ah, urm, no, it was for helping with the trigger words and his memories."

Tony says this blandly, as if this was a normal Sunday occurrence.

Rhodey just blankly stares at Tony for a solid minute where Tony apparently suddenly realises what he's done and his face shifts several times before landing in 'Oh crap'.

Rhodey just glares and raises an eyebrow.

"Um.. Oops?"

Tony makes to flee and gets all of 3 steps before Rhodey yells at him.

"Tony, you get your ass back in here for me to yell at you! Or you damned well better help me into the chair to chase you!"

Tony backtracks slowly and tried to look as innocent as possible. He knows that Tony will see option 1 is best. Option 2 would end up in Rhodey _accidentally _running over his feet. Several times. Rhodey was still sat on the floor so he moved himself to be leaning against the armchair, eyebrow raised in accusation. Hands folded calmly in his lap as Tony looks like a contrite school kid who realised he just fucked up.

"Well, before you yell. I felt bad for blowing the guys arm off! And I thought, hey, I bet BARF could be used to nix those Murder words in his brain! So-"

Rhodey mouthed _'Murder words' _whilst looking utterly unimpressed, still keeping an eyebrow raised to show Tony that he is not amused like the queen of The sodding United Kingdom.

"Um, so, I got BARF, sent it over, and it's helping! We're still working on it though, his brain is _really _complicated."

Still working on it?! With who? Sent where?!

"But now I'm getting snail mail. Am I being punished for doing a good deed? I don't think this is how it's meant to be."

He considers grabbing the nearest cushion to scream into before deciding to lob it at Tony's head instead.

"Tony. Tony… Tones, my brother, Tell me, please tell me, that you do not know where the international fugitives and the ghost assassin, who just so happened to have killed your parents, are hiding out? You know, the ones we are meant to arrest on sight?"

"Okay. I don't know where they are?"

Rhodey immediately starts lobbing pillows at him and scowls as Tony mutters about his inability to keep secret plans, secret. Tony eventually dives behind one of the sofas to dodge the projectiles.

"Hey, hey Rhodey, did you see the decals that Harley made for my arm… Look, they're silver and look like circuits. I kind of have a tattoo! He did it because Peter had to take the prototype back! So until he gives it back I can't talk properly in public, but look at his additions!"

He had noticed last night that his hand looked different but hadn't had a chance to ask about it and his long sleeves had obscured it. Peter was seeing Dr Cho in person on the last day of their road trip so he'd taken the prototype with him. Tony also brought up Peters latest schematic on the TV whilst holding his arm out for Rhodey to see as distraction techniques.

Harley had even continued the circuit like design onto his skin from what he could see. With a black sharpie. At least that's what it looked like, so the design continued up to his elbow from the middle of his forearm, covering some of the scars that he knew Tony hated looking at. It would be a nightmare to get off that was for sure, but it was the kids so knowing Tony he wouldn't try that hard. That Tony did all this whilst hiding behind the sofa was quite a feat. He was impressed with him actually, for not falling over and face planting the floor.

Rhodey squinted at the arm thrust in his direction to get a better look, then to the TV and back a few times, admitting, only in his head, that the matte black arm did look much better with the oddly tasteful silver designs the kid had put on it.

That Tony was wearing a t-shirt again was amazing in itself and he decided this conversation makes so little sense that he only just realised something. Tony had been hiding the metal hand less, but the joint where metal became skin? He hadn't seen Tony expose that willingly or intentionally since he had the hand installed. Even around the house.

Opening his mouth and closing it 3 times before coming out with a question, in a tone of utter exasperation, that even threw Tony for a few seconds.

"What does your cybernetic hand have to talking in public?!"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to talk with my hand in my pocket!?"

"Wait. What?"

Tony bounces up, with more exuberance than a man his age ought not to have, and paced back and forth, gesticulating with his flesh hand, much more than he usually does, his other now shoved in his pocket. To prove his point. Also likely that he was tentatively testing to see if he could leave the cover of the sofa without having to dodge more Rhodey fired projectiles. Only to get a cushion to the face, Rhodey was not going to let that opening go. Tony shook his head and returned to his pacing.

"Look! I'm lopsided. I'm going to start going in circles or something!"

Which, of course, he started doing, and grinned at the losing battle Rhodey was entrenched in, desperately trying to not laugh and maybe aiming to get Tony back on topic.

In Rhodey's defence, watching Tones grinning like a loon, leaning to one side and going in circles was something that made his heart clench, but it was a nice ache. He hadn't seen his friend smile this much in years, and it was _real _. Even after yesterday, he was still able to be this. In the past, before he stopped drinking, he'd have drank enough to make his liver scream and vanish, black out the lab for several days. Barely eat. Barely function. Go back further and it would have been a lot of drugs and several parties. Anything to either not feel, or feel. It was the kind of improvement he hadn't honestly thought to hope for.

His skin had lost that sallow look, there were no bags under his eyes, he was moving freely, with no pain. He was as energetic as the scrawny pain in the ass, the utter failure at basic human tasks, 14 year old he had discovered he was roommates with in college. Sure, there were differences, but that smile. It was almost worth forgetting this whole Barnes debacle.

Almost.

"Give me the damned letter and you will tell me everything."

Tony huffed, sulking slightly before plonking himself down on the floor next to him and fishing a folded letter out of his pocket and handed it to him.

"Wakanda."

"What now?"

"That's where they are. Have been the whole time."

"... That's why you were mad at T'Challa? And the whole time? You've known since you woke up haven't you? Of course you have."

"Pretty much, but we're good now. They're driving him up the wall. You can't tell anyone, the Wakandans don't deserve it until I work something out, select people on the council know. He's keeping them contained, they know if they leave he won't let them back, so it's best they stay there for now. "

Tony had obviously put a lot of thought into this, and whilst he understood his line of thinking, he was still mad.

"And I worked it out when I'd been awake for 40 minutes. Only took that long because I was distracted by having the Internet in my brain."

Yeah, he was definitely still mad.

He wanted to throw the ungrateful wretches in jail...

And that right _there_ is probably why Tony hadn't told him.

He rolled his eyes, mostly at himself for not realising that Tony would _obviously _know where they are. He always managed to find Bruce in a scarily short time, and that was before he was carrying his tech and Bruce knew how to disappear. He doubted any of The Avengers ditched their gear. Or even thought to. Without Natasha they were pretty useless at that, Clint had had different skill sets, Natasha had been the one that knew how to vanish.

He shook his head and focused on the letter. It was written nicely he had to admit.

The brainwashed assassin had good penmanship. Who knew?

_Dr Stark _ _Shuri said she would get this letter to you for me, I recently discovered you are behind the treatment I have been receiving to remove the words and help with my memories and I wanted to send you a thank you. I've seen some of the algorithms(The notes were amusing!) and you've done a lot of work to help me, although I'm not sure why. I am however extremely thankful, it's helped with some of the nightmares already which was something I hadn't known to hope for. _ _I know an apology won't fix much, for what I did, for your parents, for how you found out.. or what happened after. But I am sorry for the parts that I played, for fighting in Germany without even knowing why, I'm sorry for fighting in Siberia. I should have done more. I'm sorry I believed Steve, it seems he lied that you were fine and temporarily disabled. I know this won't change anything, and it's selfish of me, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. _ _Me and Wings, Sam, have been doing some research -in a completely not stalkerish way- and he's been watching all the VA programs. I think he feels bad for how everything happened too. TicTac got in over his head, I think he's starting to realise that. _ _I don't know if it helps any, but T'Challa is keeping Clint and Wanda pretty contained after Clint saw videos of Laura. So hopefully you and her don't have to worry about that. _ _So, Thank You. _ _Sincerely, _ _James Buchanan Barnes (Not Bucky) _

"Huh, well it is better than the one Rogers sent."

He flipped it over and saw a small but quite impressively detailed picture of a firebird, possibly a phoenix but the single word underneath it was in Cyrillic.

Феникс. (FeniksPhoenix)

The handwriting was different to the rest of Barnes letter as well. That was weird, and Cyrillic? He had no idea what it said. Before he could comment on it Tony took the letter back, apparently he hadn't noticed the little bird before and looked at it with more intensity that he thought was required. But then usually only kids sent Tony pictures and if Tony had a weakness it was someone putting effort into creating a thing for him.

"Huh.."

Tony hummed before folding the letter and slipping it back into his pocket. For someone so angry about receiving a letter, he folded it _awfully _careful and kept it on his person. That was.. _Interesting _. He narrowed his eyes at the letter through his pocket.

At the same time however, he could tell that Tony had absolutely no idea what to do about it. He was blinking and looking slightly baffled, his hand tapping the pocket the letter was tucked safely away in.

He had gotten quite a few thank you letters since they started up the new accessibility programs but this was _different _. It was a lot more personal for one.

"He's _actually _apologising. _Really _apologising. He put real effort into this. Why is he the one actually apologising to me when he doesn't even _know _me..? Yet St-Rogers.. He.."

Tony trailed off, looking confused and unsure, so he pulled him in for a hug. Tony put up no resistance and curled up against him.

"I know Tones. I don't get it either."

**Tony POV**

After he finished talking to Rhodey, he still had no idea what to do about the letter. The other one had been awful, so it was easy to chuck it in a drawer and never look back. He had reread it a few times in those early days.. But he hadn't thought about it for ages now.

He wondered if he was angry at Barnes for putting effort in or Rogers for not?

And what was with the little drawing of the phoenix? And the Cyrillic? The rest of the letter was in English with a dramatically different handwriting that he couldn't fob off as it being a different language. Maybe it was someone else who added it? But who? Or maybe Barnes had different handwriting when he switched languages. Had he meant to send him the drawing? Why was he apparently so obsessed with it?

Or maybe he was just confused by everything. Either way the letter was uncomfortable and it hadn't gotten better on subsequent readings. It also struck him that Barnes noted a potential problem, and took the time to tell him he should be OK?

Why?

Yeah, sure he sent the glasses but that wasn't really much and how the damned hell had he even found out that the glasses were his? The last time he'd spoken to Shuri about the increased information she hadn't mentioned this.

This also wasn't the reaction he had expected when it came to Barnes finding out about the glasses. L

Maybe he could ask the annoying Therapist that Carol had gotten for him, maybe she could understand Barnes brain. He definitely didn't. (He'd agreed to give them a try, with his ability he should be able to tell if they'll sell the information.) Maybe they'd have a clue why Barnes was sending him thanks that he had no idea how to react to, apologies that confused him and was being nice when the man should hate him? And tiny pictures. He was _really _caught up on that.

He'd expected screaming. World ending, apocalypse style anger landing on T'Challa and Shuri from the rogues. They hadn't mentioned anything of it the ordinary. Which either meant they weren't telling him something, or, the utterly implausible option, Barnes hadn't run and told his buddy.

Entering his lab he hopped straight onto his stool and rolled over to give Shuri a call. He slid on the pair of sunglasses that he'd started hanging next to the screen he commonly used for calls, to ensure that he never forgot to wear them.

FRIDAY popped up after he started calling.

"Boss, I thought you should know that certain senators are using the Widows par-"

"I'll get to that later Fry"

He shot one of the cameras a smile and a brush of code in apology when Shuri popped up, looking slightly haggard which cemented it in his head.

"Shuri, guess what I received today?"

"What?"

She really didn't look amused, so something had been exhausting her and he had an idea it was a 'who'. He waved the letter at her, she just rolled her eyes at him.

"Um, he found it out himself, a pink sticker is not exactly much of a barrier, he was really ridiculous about it and he really wanted to thank you."

Dammit. He was sure he'd put a black sticker on it, he didn't even know he had pink stickers.. Stupid sunglasses, everything looked dark when he was wearing them.

"Mmmhmm how much of a problem is Roger's being about it?"

Confusion flashed across her face, her head tilting. Which just confused him more.

"Huh? Tony, I've been awake for 2 days working on these stupid shoes again because my idiot brother walks like an elephant! So I am slow. I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Barnes, I'm guessing he told Rogers about my input? I'm surprised he's still going with it."

"What? No, he hasn't told anyone about it. He loves the glasses, he's also given you permission for access to level 4 data."

What?!

Whilst that would be immensely handy.

What?!

"This conversation is not making me less confused about this letter."

"It's quite simple really. You're both idiots and I'm going to bed."

The call cut and Tony couldn't help but laugh, even if he was still confused. Dammit he hadn't been able to question the little bird that was really stuck in his mind. He slipped the letter into the drawer at his station in the workshop and decided to stress over it later. Then he stepped back and slipped it into his pocket instead.

He snagged one of Peter's Web shooters and decided to tinker with it instead and stop thinking of confusing letters and what he was going to do with it, keeping an eye in his mind on the huge data packets now transferring from Shuri. The pieces for Rhodey's bracers were being fabricated and he could work on them later, work was good, work was less confusing. He was making both designs for him, the outside set and the subdermal implants. The latter set would take longer and likely more PT for Rhodey, but he wanted the man to have options.

He felt the door to the workshop open, even though it was silent and at the far end of the workshop, behind him too, but out of everywhere in the compound, the workshop was one of the most connected places to his abilities baring the apartment. His mind flicked to the cameras in and around the workshop. Showing that Natka was looking for him, and coming in behind him. Distraction. Perfect. Usually she did that trying to be sneaky, to get the drop on him, he'd been having fun confusing her lately by always knowing where she was. Before Siberia she'd always snuck up on him, scaring the crap out of him and giving him a minor heart attack. He'd always seen it as kind of malicious before, now he could see it as her way of training him in the only way she knew how. Because she was worried that his lack of training would get him killed someday.

Considering her upbringing, it was kind of cute, in a murderous assassin way.

This time he didn't even bother turning around.

"Hi Natka."

He smiled to himself as he saw her freeze on camera. He'd been doing things like that to see if she'd notice since she got back, but so far she'd been a bit distracted. Having a singular location and deciding to stay was having quite a profound effect on her and she was swinging from happy to alarmed quite often. He put the web shooter down and spun to face her, happy he'd left the sunglasses on, slipping his left hand under his top.

"You have gotten very good at that."

"Practice and all that, now, what can I do you for?"

She leaned against a desk near him and he took a second to assess her colours. Out of all the adults around him undergoing changing, hers was possibly the most distinct. Or maybe just small changes showed up more because of how her colours were. Her colours were pale. He read it as almost.. sickly. With misuse and plain non-use, they were _fading _. He'd never seen colours so pale in anyone else. There was some that had faded to a pale grey that even had breaks in it, with frayed edges like it had been worn away. It practically shrieked at him that something was _wrong _, when he'd first seen it he'd wanted away, but another part and slammed into him, hard, to help.

Maybe he'd just been so tired of failing people in that moment, so tired of everything running away from him, slipping through his fingers like sand. That he wanted to grab hold of one thing. That he wanted to truly help at least _one _person. The need to help drowned out the bone deep aversion. But he was also so tired. He didn't turn and flee like the first instinct demanded, but he didn't move forward either, he'd sort of hovered there, looking deeper without intending to.

The only reason she hadn't overwhelmed him at the hospital, like meeting new people generally did back then, was that there was so _little _colour to overwhelm him with.

Then this shakey stripe of red whipped in and out that spoke of courage. Lightning fast, blink and you could miss it. It was pale at the edges but the middle was so _vibrant _, especially compared to the rest, that he'd decided to listen.

He'd gone deeper into her colours, discovered that she wanted the one thing she'd practically assured she'd never get.

She knew that but still she _craved _it.

Even as she'd carried on repeating the same patterns that basically ensured her failure to acquire it in a self destructive pattern.

Even though she craved it. She was _terrified _of getting it and _failing _.

So he'd taken the leap, he knew that Rhodey wouldn't be happy after Germany, but he could see her worldview had been tipped upside down, her moral compass had proved himself just like everyone else and she was left untethered.

Seeing that she had more tentative colours in amongst the pale told him he'd made the right call to trust her.

"Tony.. I've been meaning to ask you this for a while. Why did you bring me in? You could of had me sent to the raft, or just not let me back here…"

He scratched his beard, thinking how to go with this. Instead he did the annoying thing. The_ 'answer a question with a question' _thing.

"Did choosing to stay make that much of a difference? You'd been here for years already"

He already knows, he can See it clear as day and has watched it slowly change her colours. But he wants to hear it from her. Plus there is that itch in his mind that he gets sometimes when he reads people's colours.

"It does, I took every mission that required travel back then, I was always half packed and ready to leave.."

"One foot out the door?"

"Yes."

"Did that make the things you did easier?"

Her face stays the same but her colours don't, that practically flinch and he feels bad for asking, but it's getting to a point.

"It's the only way I could, the only way my life had been."

"Like Germany."

She nods grimacing slightly.

"That wasn't it though was it? Not completely."

Her head tilts looking slightly confused and the same confusion fluctuated around her that he wondered if she'd even realised.

"You followed him because he was the pinnacle, the best thing the serum ever created, am I right?"

She still looks confused but her colours panic a little but he has to do this so she doesn't switch to him, or someone else.

"Natka, just because your serum is _different _, doesn't mean it's _wrong _, it doesn't mean that you are _wrong _.."

"How did yo-"

"It doesn't mean you're corrupted, or lesser, or even untrustworthy. You aren't _broken _and he is not _perfect _. You made him your guide, your moral compass for all the wrong reasons, it… it blinded you to facts about him.. To his deterioration after DC, it wasn't just you, I didn't realise it 'till I had all the time in Siberia to just _think _."

Her colours are practically all over the place so he walks over to her and squeezes her shoulder with his right hand and watches them settle slightly.

"I can't be either. You tethered yourself to the Red Room, to Clint, then Rogers but now you can stand alone. But I'll be here to help you.

"Tell me. What's it like, not having that bag packed, that door open?"

"Terrifying."

She gives him a weak smile and he pulls her in for a hug because he did just dump a lot on her. He knew he needed to have this conversation however the last few times he'd checked on her colours more in depth and realised she was looking to him in her decisions. Whilst he didn't mind _advising _or potentially making field decisions, he was happy to help her but he wasn't going to become her moral compass like Roger's had let himself become. True, he was cheating and getting to See, but it had been pretty obvious Nat had flipped to Rogers when Clint retired.

She was giving him a strange look, which was the usual one he got after he came out with something kind of weird

"Anyway. That's why I helped you. You want to change, I can See it."

"But _how _?"

He scratched his beard before figuring she'd have to find out at some point and that he'd know by know if she was just here for the others, so he slipped off his sunglasses using his left hand, the hand immediately caught her eye, confusion flashed around her again, with a bit of alarm when she saw his eye. He was happy to see if was alarm and concern _'for' _him rather than _'of' _him.

"This is why you've been wearing sunglasses since I saw you at the hospital."

He nodded. Nat was the only other person who knew how long he'd lain in that bunker.

"I did find it strange that you were up and about so fast, even with your track record, Extremis?"

"Yup, it went a bit strange with my eye though, so when I say I See that you wanted change Natka, I mean I can actually see it around you."

He'd expected someone like Nat who uses masks as much, sometimes more, than him, would hate the idea of that.

For some reason though, she looked _relieved _.

Even her colours fluttered with it.


	15. Chapter 15 - Toxic

**Toxic Remnants **

**Tony POV **

**2nd October**

Tony was in the workshop, tinkering with the final print of the exterior set of Rhodey's braces. He'd put them together and taken them a part several times now, but he wasn't happy with certain aspects when he'd run them through tests. He'd made a few changes and several parts were being refabricated to his new specifications.

He was automatically monitoring all the cameras around the workshop today as his anxiety had spiked after lunch for some unknown reason, he was finding it hard to fall into his hyperfixation too. But there was so _much _extra space in his mind that it didn't take up much processing space to just have them running constantly, he had been tapped into the cameras for a good hour before he consciously realised it. If anything, looking through cameras had started to become as natural as breathing to him now. It was just like an extra sense that was starting to run automatically now when he was in the workshop.

Which was how he saw Bruce and Peter making their way to him. Chatting animatedly. Well, Peter was practically vibrating but Bruce was keeping up nicely, he'd had plenty of practice dealing with him during insomnia driven engineering binges after all. They were _good _for each other, Peter to relax and Bruce to have more enthusiasm in his science.

There weren't many people Tony knew who had kept up with his level of parallel thinking, and Bruce and Peter were the closest, pre-extremis. Bruce's thought patterns were much more ordered, Peter fell more to his end of the spectrum. Meaning he could have 3 thought processes running concurrently and not even realise one of them was there until he looked at what he had been writing. Where you'reiin the middle of one thing, then you had to jump to write an idea down out of nowhere incase you lost it.

It had been something the kid had hidden from everyone but Tony recognised the signs. The kid had been 7 shades of relieved that there were other people that thought like that. Meeting Bruce had added to it, and Bruce had had plenty of practice dealing with him, so he could keep up with Peter at full speed too. To Peter, this was a huge deal and he was happy his science bro could give him that extra oomph, that it was normal in a way, rather than another othering experience that separated him from his peers.

Tony's mind was now a weird combination of scatter and organised. Extremis giving him greater control but all that extra space, so he still started designing things without even realising it. Sometimes it was good, other times it was absolutely ridiculous. Sometimes Extremis got involved and things got crazy.

Bruce was also utterly at ease with Peter, even after such a short period of time. But then Peter had that effect on people, he wouldn't care about the Hulk and that was the best way to win Bruce around. At least Peter wasn't poking him with pencils. That was an improvement on what he had done. Add in a peppering of enthusiasm for science, of which Peter's brand was closer to Bruce than Tony's, _they both liked squishy things_, and he was happy to have them together. They would do brilliant, terrifying things, if he was involved there would probably be some explosions too. Maybe even some intentional ones.

Harley still was yet to come round on the Bruce subject. He hadn't known it was possible to passively aggressively buy candy from a trip for practically _everyone_ in the compound so that it was obvious that he hadn't bought any for Bruce, but Harley was a determined stubborn git when he wanted to be. He'd expected as much however, he'd kept things light but he had never lied to Harley, even when he'd wanted updates and after Ultron. Harley had been very angry at Bruce for running. It didn't matter how many times he explained why he did it, the kid was _stubborn _. Thinking of the kid, his mind flicked through the base until he located every one of his hoard, he liked to know where they were and that they were safe. Harley and Cooper were working on his potato gun… he might have to warn Bruce about that…

Bruce had worked out the problem pretty early on and had told him not to say anything. That he would win him over in time. That he would prove he wouldn't leave again.

Tony was.. _Unsure_. There was a fundamental truth with Bruce, that, although it hurt, was that Bruce ran. But that he was _willing _to put the work in with his kid, it did mean a lot to him.

But, when things got bad, he ran. He loved the man like a brother, and already with his advice, Tony was having better luck with control, finally speeding up the learning curve, (he hadn't blown _anything_ up today), but at the same time he sort of felt like he was waiting. He was nervous to let himself get complacent, even though he could See that Bruce wanted to stay. That he truly regretted running. That he wanted a family, he wanted to be around people again. That Hulk didn't want to be lonely anymore. He could See it all and it had robbed him of what little anger he'd clung to, but it was still hard when experience had taught him _caution_.

All in, Tony didn't care if _he _got hurt from Bruce running again, that wasn't why it was hard. He cared about the kids. Peter was so excited to have him around, it would break his heart if Bruce up and vanished.

Sure, Tony wasn't _expecting _things to go bad anytime soon but he also hadn't _expected _Ultron to go the way it had.

That vision that Witch forced into his mind had _ruined _him. And, like it always did with him, the ruin hadn't stopped in his mind like it did with the others. It hadn't stayed with him. It had poured out and spread like rot. It had killed _so many _people. He tried to forget the number, but it was always there at a single thought, the names would run through his mind, the ones that had accepted his help, the ones that preferred to face financial ruin, just to refuse him. That JARVIS had been one of the names was like the knife slipping deeper through his ribs as his family turned on him. Then accepted her.

That he'd never felt JARVIS code in his mind was a physical blow that was easier to handle on some days. On some, it was like burning up inside and being doused with ice water. FRIDAY and CERBERUS managed to pull him back when that happened, reminding him of the JARVIS seed that lay at their cores.

The Witch had sliced straight to the heart of him, hit him at his weakest, exposed him and left him to the cool looks, jibes, mistrust and simmering anger of his family with sly, knowing smiles.

Since speaking to Carol about her, he'd been going over the compound security after she had arrived and was now relatively sure that the uptick in the violent nature, duration and amount of his nightmares had her hand in it, he wasn't sure why he hadn't seen it before. It was like now he was looking it was like the fog clearing.

He compared her energy signature she left to what was around now and on JARVIS' files. FRIDAY has been so young she hadn't seen it, to her, it had pretty much always been that way. Now, looking back. Tony could see her energy pooling in their bedrooms. His was affected severely, Bruce's came a fast second. But the others were also affected, but he wasn't stupid enough to hold that everything they'd said had been because of her. Mainly because Vision and Rhodey's rooms had the exact same readings as Rogers, Barton, Wilson and Natka.

He didn't know if there was still something left by her either, he still had nightmares occasionally tinged with red, but much less lately. Like an infection stubbornly holding on. He'd been meaning to ask Strange if he'd have a look but he'd successfully put it off. (He'd meant to send him the files he'd put together too. He was still dodging Matt and Carol too, everytime he decided to call he had a panic attack and put if off..) The nightmares had been decreasing since Siberia anyway. It sort of felt like it wasn't… compatible with his mind now, or he was reading too much into it.

That Rogers even made her part of the team straight after had never sat right with him. No questions asked. No apologies given. To him at least, she showed no sign of repentance for her actions, yet Roger's harped on about it.

His opinion was crap of course, being the creator of all the death and other dramatic titles she harped on about. The Merchant of Death, that name being thrown in his face after _so many years _, in his own damned home, it hit hard. When his headaches went from a few times a week to every day and night. When his chronic pain got worse and worse that he was so close to reaching for pain meds. When his already pretty awful nightmares had rocketed up, poisoned with red, he would be barely asleep 15 minutes and he'd wake up screaming. But Rogers had said it _couldn't_ be Wanda, no matter what. Even when he got better sleep in the freezing server room than his bed, despite his dislike of the cold. Now he knew it was proximity to the arc reactor that powered the building. He'd amped that up now, now each and every room had power lines from the arc reactor running through the walls.

It had seemed utterly unnecessary to some. An absolute pain to devise and even worse to put into place for the parts he wasn't rebuilding, but he was compelled like a man possessed to do it after Siberia. If she came back, he could be safe in the building. The people he loved were safe. Her powers would at least be bound to the room she was in.

He shook his head as the pair entered, scolding himself for being pointlessly maudlin.

He really did hope Bruce would stay however. He was a relaxing, comforting presence, especially so when Extremis went haywire, even when a coffee pot exploded next to him, he didn't get nervous, the man didn't even jump like he did. He just casually put the fire out as if it was normal. He wondered then, was that how Bruce had felt, when he was poking him and making friends with the Hulk? Because it really did help a surprising amount.

He also wanted to talk about all the things he'd put off before he ran to. Tony wasn't so sure about that. As far as he was concerned he'd hit his emotional quota for the week. Month even. Maybe the year. Although he was still meeting the first of the two therapists later. One was enhanced, the other was human, but he'd looked her up and he wondered if that was exactly true. The enhanced lady was first and he wasn't sure about it, she had good ratings but then she was an empath that could project good feelings. In other words, to him at least, that meant she could manipulate emotions. It was maybe a little too close to Wanda for his liking…

Carol had _begged _him to try however, pointing out that he would want her or Rhodey to see a therapist if things were reversed. He had quipped that if she got Strange to see a therapist he'd go 3 times a week. The determined look on her face made him feel slightly bad for Stephanie.

"How are my favourite science guys?"

They came to stop in front of him, he was sitting on the floor with parts all around him with tools interspersed amongst them. It was chaos but to him it made sense, lately Peter had been with him in the workshop so often he saw the kid mentally putting the things together and it made him proud at the ease he was doing it. Peter liked some mechanical projects but he tended to prefer biological themed projects with a lot of chemistry (and explosions) thrown in. Harley loved building, at least 3 of the cars at the end of the workshop belonged to the teen. The 1964 FLH Panhead Harley Davidson he'd found on ebay in a deplorable condition should be arriving soon, he wanted to give the kid some variety. The worse condition it arrived in, the more fun Harley had. Peter bounced and then flopped down next to him running his hands over parts of the braces. Peter was vibrating with excitement as he spoke.

"Great, we were watching TV and T'Challa popped up doing an interview about his hopes of integration with American companies!"

"Huh, Bagheera didn't mention anything, it go well?"

"If by well you mean he talked about how different Tony Stark was than how he suspected. How much you cared about the world and people. How much Wakanda is impressed by this Tony Stark and how if only other businessmen were like him, things would be so much easier. How Tony Stark was protecting people from his hospital bed…"

Bruce was smirking as he sat himself down on one of the stools with wheels and rolled himself over. Tony was utterly baffled. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times before just gaping. Any single part of that was excessive but put it all together and he kind of wanted to melt into the concrete, what on earth was T'Challa doing? Bruce was grinning and Peter was chuckling.

"Wow, I'm so telling Shuri this made you speechless!"

Peter whipped his phone out and snapped a picture of him.

"Don't worry, I won't show Shuri the pic. Are you going to tell her soon? She's going to wonder why you're wearing glasses all the time at some point."

Peters attention was immediately back on his phone, which was probably good because Tony still had no idea what to say about T'Challa going on TV and telling everyone he is amazing. That was, Um. He didn't know.

He was still getting his head around Wakanda _not_ hating him because of his father's stupid purchasing of stolen vibranium and turning it into a damned Frisbee of all things.

Accepting they don't hate you and the King going on American TV to defend and talk you up.. That is world's apart and he couldn't help but wonder why?

He rubbed his hand over his goatee, trying to ignore how Bruce's eyes flicked to his left arm. _'Probably looking at the scarring _.' he thought, not looking at it himself. He forgot about it sometimes, then he'd catch one in the mirror or see someone staring and his brain, because of course it did, decided to helpfully supply him with a complete catalogue of scars. At least the list of injuries was less now Extremis had healed even long standing issues.

Tony was pretty used to scars in his life, his hands had been covered in loads of little and big scars, some from when he was a child to just last year due to his propensity to shun protective gear when he got into certain moods. Not that he did it intentionally, he just forgot, or got so caught up in an idea that he could not waste the 10 seconds to locate and put the gloves on. At least now most wounds didn't really scar, only if they were serious enough they did. Which was handy because he still sucked at using safety gear.

Nothing could have prepared him for how Siberia would carve itself into his skin however. It blasted Afghanistan out of the park.

Some of the worst he thought was his left arm, the scars from the frostbite really stood out, the skin a twisted mess. There were more elsewhere, but they stood out less or were easily concealed.

Then there was his chest, which objectively was much worse than his arm, but also easier to hide. His chest had been an utter mess since Afghanistan anyway, and then he'd just compounded it getting into scrapes as Ironman, adding scars on top of scars until Siberia blew it all out of the water. He hadn't exactly been scar free in the beginning, but they were really starting to add up on him.

There were smatterings of frostbite scarring here and there that were annoyingly sensitive. Extremis had healed him fast, but it didn't clear the scars, but they were definitely less drastic than they could have been, so he guessed he should be grateful for that.

It was pretty easy to keep the scars hidden, but then there wasn't exactly many people seeing him unclothed these days anyway, which was handy. Rhodey had happened seen most, he also told him that his view of them was apparently skewed. That they weren't as bad as he made them out to be in his head, but Tony had looked in the mirror enough to know that they were.

Some he covered occasionally, like the very light ones on his face, he covered them just like he wore his glasses. On his neck, around both ears was a trail of lace like silver scars that faded to his olive skin to as it reached his cheeks. Most of it was on the left side of his face. He really wasn't up to answering questions that they'd cause, people would want to know how, when and why. His glasses handily covered some. Rhodey said you had to be up close to his face to see it. Maybe it was his enhanced vision, but to him they were _really _obvious. Or maybe it was because it was his face.

The frostbite scars looked kind of like old burn scars, kind of silvery and lace like. Anywhere the frost had met his skin, or freezing metal for extended periods, his limbs was where not too bad, the places that likely would have been amputated had the lesser scarring surprisingly, as Extremis fought harder to heal them. Prioritising certain areas had reduced the scarring, non important areas fared worse for scarring, which was a weird, backwards way of looking at it.

Normally he would be wearing a long sleeved shirt, but Harley had spent ages designing the delicate circuit board decals for his metal hand. Tony loved them. Then he'd sat and painstakingly continued to design all the way up to his elbow. Covering it felt.. Wrong. Even though the black was starting to fade after a few days, he'd been washing it very gently to make it last and was idly wondering if he should make it permanent. If he even could, Extremis might just heal it. Maybe if he made up the ink himself… There were some scars though that he tried to ignore completely. Especially one in particular, he hated that one...

"Peter, I think you have broken him."

He jerked back to the conversation and belatedly his mind informed him that they had still been talking whilst he'd been pointlessly cataloguing scars neither of them had seen. It didn't happen to him often, but occasionally he got a processing delay when people spoke to him and his brain was a runaway train on a completely different, utterly unrelated topic. The words just floating past him and then a minute later supplying him the information. They'd carried on talking about T'Challa and his TV interview.

"I'm just.. I don't quite know what to do with this? What did he talk about?"

"Your green energy initiative, he apparently wants to help by the way."

"Huh, if he sends me more vibranium that means I can use the lot he already sent me on fun things. I'm still making more nanites for myself, the current lot use dramatically less resources than the ones I put in place for the first arc reactors. I need to fly out and swap them so I can cannibalise the old versions.. "

"I was wondering how you'd felt safe enough to put your reactors into others hands. "

Tony grinned, hopping up and grabbing a reactor of the bench. It was in the middle of being assembled and currently lacked the signature glow, was pretty much just the base casing, but it worked for what he currently needed.

"Well any time I tried to design casing, even withvibranium, it used a lot of finite resources, and just didn't work as well as I wanted. I was constantly looking for how others could crack it, so instead I did this."

With a pulse he summoned a little cloud of nanites from the new hive in his watch he'd finished in his workshop binge after the kids went away. Peter perked up, seeing the new hive, eyes gleaming in a familiar way when something caught his focus. He grinned as the nanites surrounded the arc reactor, forming a seamless, thin, yet strong, self repairing covering around it that would inform him or FRIDAY of any tampering, including if they suddenly got cut off from the network. It all took a relatively small amount of nanites as well. He knew it was virtually impossible to crack because he'd sent a chocolate bar covered in it to Shuri to see if she could get in and she'd been unable to break the link to the nanites without resorting to items unique to Wakanda. He warned the places where the reactors were installed, if they somehow did manage to break in, the nanites would shred the arc reactor and another one would not be installed. So far no one had tried.

"They stay locked like that, even if you somehow cut them off from me or FRIDAY, they won't unlock unless I tell them."

Bruce looked impressed, running his hands over the metal, looking for some kind of seam or break.

"That's amazing. No one else can control them?"

"Well I had implants before Extremis for me to control them, but even if someone got their own implants, they wouldn't be able to control my nanites. Their own, maybe."

"How did Extremis change it?"

"Oh it was like going from 8 Meg of RAM to a Petabyte."

Tony shot Bruce a wide grin, the change had been way, way off the charts for what he'd predicted when Extremis creating a mental link to technology was just a theory. Not just in how many he could control but in how he manipulated them. Like the cameras they'd become a part of him in some way, a 6th and 7th sense. He called the nanites back to his hand, swirling in his palm before returning them to his watch. He had to remind himself occasionally not to just reach out with them.

"I'd been meaning to ask about how your suit changed to a, well, a suit. I'm guessing it was the nanites?"

"Oh! I haven't seen that yet!"

Tony rolled his eyes but stood up anyway. His t-shirt and jeans wouldn't be the most comfortable thing to have in to show Pete.

"Fine, I'll show, but then I want to hear more about what I can do for Bagheera to thank him for being weird, or something. Maybe get him to go back to normal."

He jogged off the the side room next to the Ironman suits where he kept his flight suits and quickly changed. He'd been playing with the design of the flight suits as well and whilst they still looked like his old ones, they were now way more comfortable and definitely more durable, they also offered protection against the elements. He'd practiced with many different materials and finally found one that saved him from the chafing and pinching prone to wearing the Ironman suit. Especially with the tighter fit Bleeding Edge suit from the nanites. Well, Shuri had really, as it was vibranium weave. The royals were utterly spoiling him with all this vibranium really. He had no idea what he'd done to earn such generosity or random weird TV appearances. He'd have to ask Shuri what her brother was up to.

The suit he kept with him, Extremis Mk-1, that had been moderately terrifying to discover and he had yet to really tell anyone about who wasn't under age 15, was slightly larger but still, wearing some clothes underneath the suit was never going to be _comfortable. I_f for whatever reason he was left unable to control the nanites or if he ran out somehow, it was a back up. He had one full sized hive and a medium hive in the watch now, he was working out ways he could wear more. He was currently designing a small hive for a ring, very unlikely to be removed in a hostage situation. If they all were broken, he had the Extremis suit that he could cover himself with in seconds. It wasn't self repairing like Bleeding Edge, yet, but he had already started replacing key sections with vibranium. Considering Siberia, that shockingly had started with his chest.

He knew this was his anxiety playing out, like how he'd made suit after suit after suit before. But he'd contained the obsessive traits to two suits this time. Sure he still had a lot of other suits, some situations call for very specific suits and he still updated them, but not at his old level of obsession. He was currently running a tightrope of obsession and hyperfixation... channelling that drive into the nanites and not going off the deep end.

He padded back out to meet them and ignored Peters smirk. Mostly because Peter now had his own flight suits for the Spiderman armour. He found them far to amusing. Which reminded him, he'd recently designed a hive to make his suit self repairable, he just needed to fit and teach Peter about it. It wasn't as much as Bleeding Edge, but Peter couldn't control the nanites, so there would be two small hives in his chest with the purpose of repairing damage instead of the entire suit being crafted out of them. He needed to train KAREN for Nano-tech too.

"Right, Pete, remind me to show you the update I will be making to your suit. There will be two small hives hidden in the chest. They'll activate when KAREN reports damage and they'll repair what they can and then return to the hive, or replace what was damaged."

"That is awesome! Thank you! Thank you Mr Stark."

"Oh come on Pete, I just gave you like10 billion nanites. Surely that gets me at least 1 Tony!"

Peter squeaked, which made him grin. The smallest hives could house 5 billion nanites easily, more really but he needed a better rate of construction, plus after his latest engineering binge and he figured they were as small as he would get them. The small hive was around a quarter of the size of his watch face. He'd also coloured them to match Peters suit, so people wouldn't notice a shiny, silver, sparky cloud fixing his suit.

"Right, anyway, I'll call the armour first. I'll slow them down too."

With that he pulled from the full sized arc reactor hive and had the nanites construct the suit around him. Usually it was over in a few seconds without him sort of jumping slightly because he couldn't work out a way for the soles of the feet to form if he was standing still. It was why he'd taken to walking when it formed like when he'd met Bruce outside. It looked much better than him jumping awkwardly. Because of the slow speed he managed to get away with just lifting each foot slightly one at a time.

The suit finished and the helmet clicked into place, Bruce looked impressed and Peter was practically vibrating.

"That was so cool!"

"I have to say Tony, that is impressive. I remember when nanoparticles were just an idea you were considering and now look what you've done with them. How does it work compared to your old ideas?"

"It's made out of morphologic nanoparticle bundles that form a fibrous wetweb of vibranium, I have some made of iron and platinum too, have another idea too but that's still in the planning stages, from that… it can form anything that I know how to create."

"And as its you, that's a lot."

The helmet collapsed back into the neck and he couldn't help but grin, people tended to be impressed with his suits, but having Peter and Bruce impressed was a different ballgame. They knew why to be impressed.

"The vibranium made the difference. Vibranium and Starkanium are so similar in properties, Starkanium is somewhere between Adamantium and Vibranium. Putting then together made everything click that little bit more. I'd been stalled trying to just make a gauntlet of them, then I had some vibranium left over and decided to give it a shot. Now I've worked out how to use other materials too."

Vibranium and Starkanium were similar enough that he could actually fabricate a metal close to vibranium, but is was pretty resource intensive, required a lot more of the element that even the arc reactors that powered the entire compound to make a decent amount, which was a lot bigger than the original, or the one at Stark Tower. They used a lot of power at the compound, especially the training simulation rooms.

He sent the signal to reform the into the suit again, this time into an ordinary looking, well, ordinary for him. So expensive, tailored suit that was a much darker red than the Ironman suit normally was, a black shirt and gold tie. It felt like fabric, but like no other fabric he'd felt before. Close to T'Challa and his vibranium weave clothing but slightly different having been made from nanites. He'd gotten the idea from talking to Shuri about the Black Panther suit she was always tinkering with. It was strangely soft, kind of like silk but looked nothing like silk, well, apart from the tie. It was also pretty effective armor on its own. There weren't any offensive weapons in it, it was strictly defensive and would easily deflect bullets and knives, absorb kinetic energy and still had its sonoluminescence properties, even in its current, fabric like guise. It also felt nice to wear.

Tony stood still amused as Peter and Bruce inspected the suit, feeling the different parts, that whilst they looked like different materials, it all felt the same. Maybe at some point he could nab Bruce and show him the advanced power cells and solar converters he'd been playing with. The energy conversion rechargers would likely catch the other scientists eye. That and the additional R.T nodes? He would never be trapped in a powerless suit again.

"That is amazing Tony, no one would even know this could become the Ironman armour."

"Does it act like fabric or is it like a bulletproof vest?"

He smiled at Peter, the kid was always scared he would get hurt again, even now he was massively changed by Extremis, stronger, faster and harder to hurt. He still worried, still carried misplaced guilt from Germany. He carried all of Tony's injuries in Siberia on his shoulders, no matter how much he talked to him about it. In Peters World, if he had tied everyone up at the airport and they had been captured, Siberia never would have happened. Maybe the kid needed to see a therapist too, he made a note in his mind to talk to him about it later on his own. Maybe make a deal, if the kid goes, he'll go. He's already meeting one today, if he ends up liking her he could probably convince the kid. The other two already did. He had convinced Cooper to go too, the kid had a lot of trust issues, plus all of that family unit had been isolated for too long. Lilah bounced back easily, but she had some quirks. Coop.. If it wasn't for Harley he would have no friends in school at all. Therapy for everyone!

"Yup, bullet proof, stab proof, absorbs kinetic energy. Not sure about magic, the nanites from the large hives live around the arc reactor core, the the ones I use for the suit do anyway, and they definitely pick up some properties, they feel different to me. So if they do pick up the same properties, maybe it will be like when Loki's glow stick of destiny failed to work on me? I've been meaning to ask Stephy but I'm going to wait till he's less mad at me. I figure he'd enjoy throwing spells at me a little _too much_ right now. "

Tony stretched his spine, it was a bit sore, probably from sitting hunched on the floor, he enjoyed hearing it pop as he got the bots to return Rhodey's bracers to their case.

"Alright, why don't you tell me more about Bagheera whilst we get going."

"Going?"

"To Neds."

At Peters confusion he couldn't help but chuckle and silently wonder when he had before the responsible adult that actually remembered things.

"Remember you organised with Ned to sleep over and head to school with you tomorrow, we're meant to collect him at 10am."

"Oh no. I forgot! My room is a mess, nothing is ready oh no.."

"Pete, Pete. Calm. Breathe with me. There we go. You're a teenage boy, you are genetically predisposed to live in chaos. I'm sure we can clear enough to put the pop up bed I finished tweaking when you were away."

"I can't believe I forgot!"

"Hmm, have you been trying to forget?"

"Why would I.. Oh. I decided to tell him didn't I?"

Bruce was looking at Tony with a small smile on his face as he spent 10 minutes trying to calm Peter down, he sent some of the bots to Peter's room to tidy up and put his things away. He was generally quite neat, but he left books… everywhere. Always open like he'd been reading and stopped in the middle of the page to move to something else. He sent the bots with a stack of bookmarks he'd ordered, so he wouldn't lose his place in any of the books too. They found 1 in the lampshade of all places. But then the ceiling was just another floor to Peter.

When Peter had eventually stopped hyperventilating, Tony lifted his arm to his face, letting a small swirl of nanites form into a mirrored red pair of sunglasses. At least he didn't need to get changed to go and meet Ned.

"How about to make you feel better, you pick the car."

Peter squealed and made a beeline for his favourite car. Harley thought it was a travesty that Peter didn't pick his favourite for any of the 'normal' reasons. It wasn't because there were so few of them, the price, the speed, the engine or the tech. It was because the doors opened up. It also meant that Peter was missing a huge flaw with that car. He didn't even turn because he knew where he was headed, so he just called out.

"Pete. That one has two seats."

The noise he made was amusing but Tony didn't say anything because that would be mean. Instead he made sympathetic noises and told Pete they could go for a ride together at some point soon.

"Pick one that Ned will be able to get in and no I'm not driving with you sat in on his lap or vice versa."

The world weary sigh of a forlorn teenager was still amusing to him but his face was schooled to not let it show. Bruce was trying not to crack up laughing at him being all serious. So he stuck his tongue out at the man.

Peter started walking the full length of the garage attached to the workshop and Tony started making a smoothie. This could take a while, especially when he saw Peter had taken out his phone, which meant he was considering the other cars underneath them too. He tended to keep his and the kids favourites, and the brand new ones up here with the project cars close to the workshop, but there was an empty few bays where he could bring up any car for a tune up. He also knew that Peter was going to pick the Ghost, the kid had a thing for Rolls Royce, he thought they were fancy which was adorable. They hadn't been Tony's usual picks but when he found that out he accidentally bought several when he'd not slept in 3 days as a surprise for the kid, and promptly pretended he'd always had them, just in storage. Peter, bless his little heart, had believed him.

He'd already snagged the keys and had them in his pocket when he fished his smoothie whilst chatting to Bruce, Peter proudly announced his choice just as Bruce was heading over to his lab. He grinned and made his way over and hope Peter would have some idea about what he should do about this interview. Another thing on his list of 'What the Actual Feck?'

Tony was equally confused about what to do about that as he was the letter and doodle from Barnes. Nope, the letter and phoenix was still the most confusing thing of the moment. Peter had been nosy and seen it, of course he commented that because of the colours it was an Iron Phoenix. He also noted the feathers looked sharper so they could even be metal. Tony thought Peter was reading way too much into this. It was definitely not helping him work out what to do next.

People were sending him things and going on TV about him and being nice. It had the knock on affect Tony gets any time someone does something nice. He wanted to make them things. T'Challa that was fine, although what the hell can you make the king of vibranium land? But the impulse to make Barnes something was weird and probably not good.

He doubted the super soldier would want anything from him, he might be happy to get help with BARF, but that was probably just desperation to be healed. The fight in Siberia was never that far from his mind generally left him feeling guilt and anger. That anger was now firmly directed at Rogers. His mistrust had robbed him of the ability to react in a more level headed manner.

Plus, on top of everything he was practically making him hide out in Wakanda when the guy had been living alone in Bucharest before they'd kicked the hornets nest. Clearing Barnes of his crimes under Hydra would be easy, even everything post Hydra would be a snap. The Hydra brainwashing went deep, it forced him to run when someone was trying to capture him. Forced him to fight when someone attacked him. Barnes was fighting it and he'd obviously damaged it somehow, but it wasn't erased. The only reason there weren't issues in Wakanda was that he'd warned them to never trap the man. Even superficially.

So no, he wasn't going to make this already awkward situation worse by sending him things. Plus Shuri could make anything for him anyway. He'd just throw himself into helping with the words and clear his mind. I mean, if you give a guy you probably don't trust the keys to your brain, you have to be desperate, right? He had to practically force his train of thoughts to driving and off of Barnes. His mind was annoyingly running off on tangents today.

When they pulled up to Ned's, the boy was standing next to a bike, jaw practically on the floor staring at the car in utter disbelief.

"Underoos. When you asked Ned to stay over, did you mention where?"

"Um, come to think of it, no?"

Tony shot him a huge grin and before he could say anything to stop him, he stepped out of the car. Any composure Ned had managed to get back was lost as he strolled over to the kid, hand out. Peter had his hands over his eyes, shaking his head. Tony was pretty sure even his ears were red.

"Hello there Ned, were looking forward to you staying at the compound tonight."

Ned shook his hand, staring at Tony like he was trying to work out what was happening right now. His voice jumped up a few octaves and Tony had to admit it was amusing. He also wanted to get a look at the kids colours before he got into the car and drove, so there was a real reason for it, he wasn't _just_ trying to embarrass Peter. The kid was nice, definitely intelligent too. He was pleased to see that what he'd heard from Peter was true and he had a feeling that this one would be loyal.

"You.. Your Tony Stark. The Tony Stark. Ironman. Oh my god. The compound?! Where the Avengers live!?"

"Yup, that's me, come on, hop in, you won't need your bike."

Tony left him there floundering, and outright grinned at a mortified Peter. He tilted his head to the kid and he got the message, jumping out of the car so he could bundle his friend into the backseat and sit with him, maybe answer some of the poor kids questions. They quickly vanished to put his bike back and eventually got in the car. Ned was caught between amazed and terrified.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew Tony Stark?! I was expecting you to turn up on a bike to go to your Aunts. Not in a freaking Rolls Royce! Or to the Avengers Compound. Oh my god."

"Well I told you I had an internship at Stark Industries."

"You're killing me here! Kelly in the year above has an internship at SI and she isn't driving around in amazing cars with Tony Stark!"

It was getting so hard NOT to laugh that Tony decided to focus on driving instead.

"So have you eaten Ned, Because me and Pete skipped breakfast and I'm starving."

They hadn't, but he was getting peckish and that meant Peter would be too and they could even eat a normal amount.

"Ah, Yes? Food would be nice Mr Stark.."

"Ah kid, you're killing me now. Call me Tony or I'll feel ancient."

"Um, OK! Food would be awesome Tony. Thank you!"

He gave Peter a pointed smirk in the rear view mirror as the kid called him Tony.

"You can't call him that!"

"Pete, I love you and everything, but if freaking Ironman tells me to call him Tony, I'm gonna call him Tony."

At Peters exasperated sigh he couldn't stop the chuckle that time as he headed to the breakfast cafe all the Avengers frequented.

"I think I'm going to like you kid."

The place they were heading to did lunch, but it also did amazing all day breakfasts that were to die for. They'd all gotten hooked so much Tony had offered some revamps, so he could up security and make it a safe, press free location. It had resulted in the place having better security than most airports, the owners who had been on the verge of losing the place and their home, were now comfortably putting 3 kids through college. The New Avengers frequented the place often.

It had originally been a good place the Avengers could eat in peace, but with the upped security it had quickly before a go to for business meetings and the like. Plus he occasionally just went alone for their omelettes. They were so good.

By the time they pulled up Ned had regained his voice and was furiously whispering with Peter that he should have told him earlier and that no one would ever believe him this happened to them, this was obviously the coolest thing to happen at their school ever and no one would believe him.

It was way to much fun shocking Peter's friends. When he eventually turned up in the school for a very serious reason he just didn't know yet, it was going to be hilarious. Walking past the _'Please Wait Here' _sign he waved to the staff behind the bar and made their way to the seats reserved for them at the back. They were mostly kept empty unless the place was extremely busy, today it wasn't so they were safe. The running Ned-Commentary was highly amusing.

"Go wild you two, anything we don't eat we can take home, Bruce or Rhodey will scavenge any leftovers."

"The Hulk or Warmachine could eat my leftovers.."

Peter shot him a look but he just smiled innocently back. Peter was totally not buying it, but he loved the omelettes here as well and couldn't keep up his annoyance. Plus it was Peter, the kid couldn't be annoyed for more than a few minutes or the world might actually end.

Returning to the compound, inundated with food and through the workshop was also a good way to get Ned utterly wrapped up in everything, Tony had worked out that the best way for Peter to tell him and have everything go smoothly would be if he was already utterly wowed by everything else, that it might be normal that your best friend is Spiderman. Either way it would be better than him blurting, squeaking, mid conversation at Dinner with May. Peter had set thar bar _low._

Which was why he eventually left the pair building something Star Wars related out of lego in the apartment. He wasn't sure which one, Peter had a huge stack of them in his room they'd not gotten to yet. The looks Peter got when Ned realised Peter's room was in his apartment actually had him laughing. He passed Harley and Cooper on the way back from the Residential zone, the kids torn between playing with the newbie or checking on the braces progress, he sent them on up, 3 parts were being fabricated to replace ones he wasn't happy, as such, not that interesting for the teens. Hopefully FRIDAY would record it when Peter finally told him.

He eventually fired off a text to T'Challa to thank him for everything he had done out of plain not knowing what else to do, he'd ask Shuri what on earth to do to thank the man and possibly ask why on earth he was doing it? Because he'd be damned if he had a sodding clue what T'Challa was up to with the Accords Council let alone this.

Checking his email showed that Pepper was over the moon, the man who recently announced that Wakanda has vibranium, was now singing his praises on TV! She was probably sending him a gift basket of muffins right now, the board was apparently more likely to go with his ideas that they didn't approve of because of it to. Giving away green energy _suddenly _had become something they could get behind and he'd be the bigger man and not rub it in their faces how they'd valued the move stupid.

Well, not _much _. He wasn't perfect after all.

He forcibly stopped himself dragging his feet when he realised his appointment with Therapist number 1 was coming up. Carol was there for the original meet and greets to see how he felt about them. Also likely to make sure he didn't pass out meeting someone new.

Tony didn't actually hold out much hope for this one, it wasn't that she was a mutant, that would never bother him, it wasn't even that her abilities were mental based. He was set to meet Charles at some point their calendars didn't crash and he wasn't phased at that even though the man could read his mind. The man was respected, so even though he could see if in his head, he obviously knew how to keep a secret, plus it wasn't exactly the first telepath he'd met and he'd been told more than once that he was a walking headache to telepaths. But with this therapist… It was the fact that she didn't just feel people's emotions but she could affect them too. That he was not so fond off. He knew all about it, she was one of the shield agents he'd hired after the fall and she was a great therapist. Whilst some people might be okay with that, after Wanda, just the _idea_ of someone pushing him to feel something left his skin crawling.

Carol would be there however and he suspected that Carol would have told her this. So if she kept her feelings to herself, having someone get a read on him didn't bother him so much, he'd be doing similar with his abilities after all. His mind however just wouldn't settle, it was running in 10 different directions, some panicking about Wanda, about being influenced, his usual fear of facing a therapists that he knew was pretty unfounded in this case as she was unlikely to go to the press or his enemies. That need in him to yell that he was fine, spin on his heel and storm away vs the promise he had made Carol were fighting. The fact he _knew _Carol was right. He'd been stapling himself back together for so long, he knew he needed some help, somewhere, he wasn't stupid. When you need help, the smart thing to do is to go to the expert. That didn't make _doing _it easier. Not with his experiences.

He crossed to the MedHQ buildin, that generally was for the more human residents of the compound, the med bays for the Avengers were in a different building entirely. Rooms for therapy however were all in this building. He stepped into the brightly coloured room and couldn't help the suspicion flare up inside him even as he tried to force it down. Later, he could probably accept that the therapist had probably just reacted to his whirlwind surge of emotions and his brain trying to think too much… that whilst this might be normal for him it might not be for her, even in her job.

But all he felt and saw was a wave of something come towards him, a surge of colour. He threw his hands up, utterly pointlessly, to protect himself from something that wasn't even physical. It was like a flood of calming in colour that then slammed into the firewalls in place in his mind. He held his breath as it crashed like sea water on the rocks, watching for a break as he utterly froze. The therapist froze too, most likely because he doubted that in response to her calm she was expecting the cold fury that built inside him, he'd never seen something build up inside him before, and it was _weird _, it was black, shifting and rolling like waves in a bad storm at sea, with arcs of blue crackling dangerously around it, that he then instinctively shoved right back at her, flowing out of him like a wave. He didn't know how, he just reacted, analysed what she did and returned fire, all of this happened in a fraction of a second of him entering the room.

They both ended up blinking at each other, her eyes gone tight and he knew that she was scared of him. Not just scared, terrified. The anger hadn't manipulated her, not like she could, but she'd felt the cold, calculating rage. The rage when he lost the fire and everything becomes cold, numb and static. Where his intellect sharpens into a sharp, lethal point. She felt it and it terrified her.

He could see it painted all around her. That she'd seen and felt terrible things working with SHIELD. But she'd never felt anything like _that_ before, had never experienced anything like that before. Great. Carol just looked really confused.

That was what snapped something in him. He'd been _waiting _for someone to be scared of him since he told Carol, and sure, this wasn't exactly the best circumstances but his brain didn't care. It was just the proof to him that he'd been waiting for. Hilariously, it was because of something he'd carried his whole life that had her seeing him as something to be feared, not his recent changes. He backed up, calmly, turned on his heel, and left without saying a word. Leaving a very confused Carol and a trembling empath.

He walked down the corridor, heading for the window at the end, his suit morphing into the Ironman suit and he just about heard Carol calling his name as he shot out of the window fast enough that the glass fractured in his wake.

The next thing he knows he was stood in front of 177A Bleecker Street and he's not exactly sure how he got there. The door opened with a very happy Wong, he wasn't sure if he had knocked, but you know. _Wizards _. So who knows. He looked at Wong in confusion, there was no colours.

"Tony, come in, come in! We've missed you here."

As he entered it was only the HUD changing for the new location that made him realise the suit was still on him, as was his helmet. He hadn't even noticed, which was weird, even with how natural the tech felt around him these days. He definitely wasn't feeling right, he felt slightly not here, and Wong seemed to pick up on it quickly so Tony slammed it down, smiling and allowing the suit to change back to the red suit. Thankfully the display of tech stunned Wong from his question as Stephen came forward, a frown on his face.

"We weren't expecting you today."

"Stephen, are you utterly incapable of manners?"

Tony let a laugh slip at that and finally looked at Wong again. He was kind of similar to Stephy but also extremely not. What is it with wizards and being weird headache inducing people? Luckily Tony was just this side of numbed and freaked out by what just happened that it didn't over run him, he just got a sense a shining gold and humming power around him. Then he made the mistake of looking around.

Tony had been here before. Obviously. Many times. He'd visited Wong on his own several times when Stephy was off dimension hopping too. Or whatever it actually was when he was out. He knew the building was odd. But that was magic. So he ignored it.

Now he _couldn't _and he found himself flat against the door looking around and it was freaking weird, eyes wide trying to take it in. So much was just out of the corner of his eye, no matter where he turned. It was hard to even pinpoint what was weird because it looked the same as it had every time he came, but it was like everything has just shifted to the side. There were flashes of colour sparking in places where there were no people. They flashed in and out. He'd never seen that before. It was like something was inlaid into the wall but it wasn't just that. That was weird, but not what had him pinned against the door, not hearing Stephen and Wong talking to him.

The house felt.. Heavy. The compound had a familiar warm hum that he attributed to the arc reactor, no other buildings '_felt_' of anything but this one did. It didn't help that he felt both numb and hypersensitive from his encounter with the therapist.

"Stephy. You're house is fucking weird."

Wong froze, staring at Tony with a strange expression on his face whilst shooting irritated looked at Stephy. He could See that Stephy hadn't told Wong about his augmentations. Before he could say anything however he got a sense that he'd insulted it… And it was now upset.. The _building_. He'd upset a freaking _building_.

"Um, I'm sorry, it's not a bad weird, your just unique and I hadn't expected it?"

Oh thanks the gods that sense went away. It was lighter now, still weird, but not upset. He had a feeling out of all the gods Loki was somewhere laughing at him. Man of Science chatting to a sodding magic _building_ trying to make it feel better.

"Did you just talk to the Sanctum? "

"I think I upset it. Its OK now."

"Alright, I have no idea what you two have gotten yourself into but let's get Tony sat down before he falls down."

That was how he'd ended up sitting in the kitchen around the table he'd sat at so many times wondering just what was going on with his life. Wong seemed utterly unphased that he'd come in, insulted and apologised to the building. Fucking magic. Get involved, even a little bit, and suddenly weird is normal. He blamed Stephy for this.

He gratefully accepted the coffee that Wong sat in front of him. Smiling when he realised it was utterly full of the cinnamon syrup he had bought him. It was so sweet it coated your mouth but it was what he needed. He automatically flicked his had towards his head and the nanite forming the glasses returned to his watch. It wasn't until Wong's 'Huh' that he realised what he'd done.

"Weird day. Not thinking straight."

"I'll assume someone will fill me in on this story soon? I'll also assume it has something to do with why you haven't been around in so long."

Tony just nodded, amused at Wong's easy acceptance and disapproval at him not visiting, he was curious but that was all. Wong was awesome, well, he was awesome to him. Wong and Stephy bickered like an old married couple.

"Carol wanted me to see a therapist."

"That clears things up so much."

Stephy rolled his eyes only to get another glare from Wong, who then gave him a nice smile to continue, which of course had Stephy glaring at Wong. Tony was starting to feel more himself now. Thanks to their banter and the influx of sugar. Extremis was returning his body to normal and that's when he realised that even through something weird had happened, he might of had a panic attack of some kind, he was pretty sure he hadn't fried anything. Maybe Bruce's extremely boring meditation exercises were useful?

"She was an Empath. Tried to calm me down, or something, I don't know, I'd just walked in the room and woosh, she hurled... _something_ at me, like a flood of blinding colour and I think I lashed out the same way. I don't know how though."

He tried to imagine colours in his mind like he had then, but nothing came to him, even if he did, he doubted he'd know what to do with it, let alone push it out at someone. Plus, he didn't want either of his friends to fear him like that therapist did.

"Why did you lash out?"

Tony hunched at that, he wasn't fully there yet and didn't realise how obvious the move was until he saw Stephy's eyes widen, he forced his back straight. He was not hunching because of _her _. He did however shudder slightly when he said _her _name. Stephy was silent as Wong questioned him, his eyes going hard in rage that crackled around him in red and black arcs, so similar to how his had in the arc reactor blue. He found it soothing in a weird way, that it wasn't just him who carried anger that was sharp and analytical.

"Reminded me of Wanda."

"The Scarlet Witch?"

"Yeah, I uh, recently come across some information. She put this vision, this nightmare, forced it into my head. _Pushed _me towards certain events that I'd believed were my fault."

Wong looked immediately alarmed at that, repulsed even, he nearly panicked until he Saw that he was repulsed at the mental magic abuse. The reaction was a lot more severe than he had expected, causing him to frown somewhat in confusion.

"Roger's had her powers listed as telekinesis.."

Tony just scoffed, rubbing his head and holding back the need to hit his head what he thought of what the damned witch had forced on him.

"Because forcing worst fears and nightmares onto people isn't exactly _Avengers friendly_. It's what pushed my hand with Ultron."

"I'm not surprised an empath would trigger such a response in you after that."

"Thanks Stephy, pretty sure I terrified her though. Can.. Can you see if the witch left anything in my head?"

"Of course."

"I'm going to close my eyes, I have a feeling seeing more magic right now might actually make me pass out."

All this weirdness and crap is almost worth it for the look of utter shock on Stephy's face so he flashed the wizard a grateful smile.

**Stephen POV **

Stephen had not expected Tony to turn up, he knew Tony was at the door long before he saw him, he felt a raging storm of confusion covered with a blanket of disassociation, so he had quickly made his way to the door, Tony was stood with Wong, when he finally shed the suit, he definitely didn't look right. His reaction to the Sanctum would definitely be something they could explore later, for now he was dodging Wong's pointed looks, that man always seemed to _know_ when he wasn't telling him something.

The last thing he had ever expected was Tony asking him to go into his _mind _. Especially after the incredibly small mention of what Wanda did. He didn't say much. But it had been enough.

He just hadn't realised that Tony trusted him _that _much.

That in a moment of panic he had fled to the Sanctum. Oh he'd known Tony had come to see it, and them, as a sanctuary after Ultron, but it was still pretty serious matter that this was where he'd come when he was in a panic. Stress, worry, panic and self loathing practically flowed off him. Stephen however seriously questioned putting Tony with an empath therapist, who then tried to calm him, out of everyone. Especially if Carol had known about Wanda, but even if they didn't know. He hadn't known the Witch had gotten her claws into Tony and he still would not have recommended an empath therapist. People with Tony's life experiences would not do well with any perceived manipulation. Just from the brief, tiny bits of information he'd heard about Wanda, even calm from an empath could potentially be perceived as an outright attack. Which it obviously had and Tony had reacted accordingly.

Tony turned to face him and he leaned forward, his fingers an inch from his head. From the way Tony twitched it was obvious that he felt him start the spell he needed, seemingly even with his eyes closed Tony could feel the second the golden disks shimmered to life. He ignored Wong's raised eyebrow and closed his own eyes, concentrating on scanning lightly through Tony's mind for something off.

What looked like a wall of golden code immediately blocked his path, which had been a shock to say the least. His mind was completely encased.

'Tony, I can't actually look if you don't let me in.'

'Huh, I thought the great Sorcerer Supreme would just be able to get through..'

'Well I don't want to break your pretty little code wall now do I.'

What he didn't say was that he wasn't sure he could. He had no idea where to start with… that. Any other person and he could potentially slip past people's mental defences with ease to scan for interference or tampering.

'Also do you mind if I tell Wong about what's happened? He's going to be insufferable otherwise.'

He had never heard of someone having a sodding firewall in his brain. Wong would definitely be interested in that. Suddenly the code shifted, letting the smallest crack open up.

'Sure, I trust your judgement Stephanie.'

He rolled his eyes at the name, but couldn't help smiling at that when another set of code shifted around him to allow him access as he approached it. Generally, unless you were a sorcerer, you couldn't see where a person was in your mind, so he didn't know how Tony did that. This happened 4 more times in subsequent walls, each closing behind him. The security was impressive to say the least. Each wall was vastly different, the last was so complex, layered and in multiple languages that made him slightly nauseated as it moved too fast to get a read on. It was incredibly surreal seeing such defences in someone's mind, generally defenses were taught to use an element to defend their mind. Wong used air for example, and he wasn't convinced that he did it just to confuse him, as even now he couldn't imagine air proving a feasible defence. He favoured metal for his defense. He'd seen many different types since he started his training. So these shifting changing walls of code were very strange.

When he was through, he didn't know if it was on purpose, or if it was because Tony was obsessing over the event as Tony had a habit of doing, but the memory of what happened with the empath was suddenly there, the code walls disappeared and he was stood next to Tony as he opened the door. He could actually see the colours Tony spoke about around people, he saw the surge towards him of bright colours and he stepped back from the shock. Tony's mind probably told him what the colours meant but to him it was just a surge of blue and green. For most people, when an empath sends emotions like that, there is nothing to see, a terrifying wave of mixed colours slamming into your face was probably not what she intended. Generally this meeting was doomed to failure with clashing abilities and Tony's Trauma.

That the wave broke apart on Tony's code wall without a scrap getting through was extremely impressive, shielding against telepathy was hard, shielding against empaths was nigh impossible even for many Masters, especially if it was a mutant ability. However, from what he could see, it just wasn't compatible with Tony's mind now. Extremis had more of an effect in Tony's mind than he had mentioned. Maybe more than he even realised, Tony had always seen his mind as a computer in some ways, so the change might not be as pronounced to him.

As he'd seen a few peoples minds, during training and a few months ago when he'd been called to help in the Xenthar dimension as the resident Sorcerer had found three people with what looked like surgical mental incisions on their psyche. Turned out to be a young sorcerer who had been trying to '_help_' her friends, hadn't realised that what she had done was _fundamentally _wrong. Things had ended surprisingly well. Either way, he was now generally quite familiar with a variety of mind scapes. This was nothing like any of them.

The amount of space and processes running in the background was utterly staggering and if he had to search everything he'd be here for a year, maybe more. He needed a scent to chase.

'You're going to want to hit me for this..'

'You want to see the vision don't you?'

'Not want, _need _. I never met her, I don't know what her magic _feels _like, the vision might still have traces of her magic if she was sloppy.'

He almost feels Tony sigh around him as imagines flicker to life around him, full surround sound, which again was very different, usually he'd just view the memories. Tony seems to be dumping him into them with a split screen in his mind of Tony's mindscape. He got distracted from the content of the vision at first however when the sheer amount of magical residue flares around him. Red threads cut from their source but still twisting and moving. Searching and grasping. Trying to latch on to anything they can but finding little purchase in Tony's changed mind it seemed. They scrape and scratch at anything they can, damage flaring to life in blue sparks anytime a thread hits something in his mind. The bright, brilliant arc reactor blue that is everywhere dulls in spots where the red connects but at the same time, the red darkens and looks burnt. Doing as much damage to each other.

It turns his stomach looking at it, this kind of mind violation, it's much worse that what Tony explained. It's so much worse than any hints he'd gotten about the witches power. She's gone over to straight up mind rape. Not caring, or maybe even intentionally inflicting wanton damage as she ripped open his mind and forced it to conjure his worst fear and trap him in it. He can feel emotions attached to it, rage, but also a sick, twisted satisfaction. It's nauseating. It's different than his last case, he'd seen how damage could be wrought unintentionally, even with good, positive thoughts attached. This… she _wanted _suffering.

The vision plays out, the Chitari laying waste to the world, Tony left alone to weather the accusing eyes of his dead friends. Why didn't he save them? Why didn't he do more? With Tony's personality Stephen isn't shocked he built and built after this. Building is Tony's response to trauma. He steadies himself to pull as some of the red out of Tony's mind, stashing it into a pocket dimension for later analysis.

Touching the red threads feels awful. He isn't here, but his very essence is and the red threads have been slowly starving to death in Tony's new, incompatible mind. Him however? His mind is very compatible.

He can't believe a person could be so inexperienced and sloppy to leave so much evidence behind, yet also be able to trigger such specific visions and to leave traces behind that are capable of operating _independently _, without the witches input, to keep harming the person they were planted in. He can feel the power from the mind stone, twisted by Hydra and how its trying to reach out, desperate to reconnect to its source, but Tony's firewalls were utterly cutting it off from Wanda. She'd not been here just once, that's for sure. There are countless incisions he can see. He mentally records evidence that he can show others, because this.. This is just severely wrong and he is heavily concerned at the mind of a person who could do this to another human being yet remain sane. How she trained is another disturbing fact he doesn't want to know, but it's his job to.

It's slow, uncomfortable and nauseating work, but the blue around him arcs towards him occasionally like crackling electricity. Unlike the red threads that are cold and painful, the blue is warm and quite energising as he works. Tony's mind offering him power that feels a lot like traces of the space stone. He doesn't know if Tony is actively doing it, or if his mind is seeing him help and acting independently. Either way, it encourages him to keep going, even when he probably should have pulled away by now. Wong was going to yell at him.

He tries to remove the vision itself, but it's been here too long, is too entrenched. At least if he removes all of the threads there is a chance that it will finally fade into memory instead of staying fresh like it has been. It won't stop it ever featuring in a nightmare again, but he hoped it would help. He nearly turns to leave but decides to check she didn't do _more _. The chances of Tony returning to do this again are slim to none.

She's been in his mind more than once after all, he doubts she stuck to this vision. Now he has her magic signature, he can _hunt _. Focusing on it, Tony's mind moves past him extremely fast, so fast he can barely get a glimpse of the amount of things Tony is thinking about at the same time. Which is absolutely strange in itself, he knew the man was a genius, Tony even said himself that his mind thinks of several different things at once, but hearing that and seeing it are quite different things.

Not that he'd ever tell the man, but his brain is annoyingly impressive at multitasking, if he had an eidetic memory like himself, rather than Tony's ability to literally forget what he's doing, as he was doing, he would be terrifyingly competent. He comes across more red in several more locations, attached to an assortment of horrifying nightmares he wished he'd never seen. He can't help seeing some however, no matter how hard he tries.

Howard's sneering face.

Flashes of dark rooms.

Doors slamming shut.

Waking up, hands moving inside his chest in a cave.

"He's my best friend."

Stane, looming over him, ripping out his heart.

Snow falling, in Siberia he presumes.

Black space, then the Chitari, then falling.

"Stark Men are made of Iron."

Again hearing and seeing are very different. He and Tony had discussed nightmares many times, usually heavily drunk. He knew Tony had a lot, but there are more than he thought. He tries his hardest to not look after the first ones scraped across his mind, just seeing blurs. Only focusing on the threads that look to only be attached to nightmares. Tony would like him rooting through his nightmares about as much as he'd like Tony in his.

Unlike the vision, this magic is different. It's purpose is to seek out nightmares, enhance them, make them mix together, cross over. Up the violence level. He's not sure how Tony stayed sane whilst she was forcing her magic into his mind. Then he's also not sure how he's stayed sane and collected so many nightmares, he's only seen snippets of a fraction of them and it's more than enough for him. He suspects if Tony saw his nightmares however he'd say the same.

She has definitely had some training. No one just _knows _how to implant worst fears. No one just _knows _how to locate nightmares like this and attach magic to them them in such specific ways. She's definitely sloppy, but he can read her intent which was to not get caught but to drive Tony insane or to suicide. Attempting to cast such subtle magic with utter brute force strength leaves a mess. Recklessly causing damage to the mind all around. His stomach lurches again thinking how she must have practiced this skill and it would be his job to find out.

He deals with some awful things in his new job, but finding people willing to manipulate people's minds like this was actually much rarer than he would have thought it was, but that was before he understood it better. Before he understood what it entailed. If an item like the mind stone is used, it's slightly different, but to use one's _own _magic, or one's _own _psionic force, which is what the Witch seems to have access too, its _much_ different. It's a blade that cuts two ways. How far you go is utterly dependent on how far you're willing to cut yourself up. She had gone further than he'd thought possible.

No one at the Kamar-Taj is going to believe him that the mind he took this evidence from is alive, let alone sane. Explaining why would be revealing secrets that he didn't think Tony was ready to impart with.

By the time he is finally happy that he has every single piece of red thread, he's exhausted. Tony's mind is actually healing around him, slowly but surely. The bright blue arcing like bolts of electricity over patches that had been drained so badly they'd turned black. The arcs knit together over the gaps, creating patches in some areas, healing in others. He wonders if this is Extremis, or Tony's element derived from the space stone. Or both, working in tandem in a way he hadn't thought possible. He would have thought such damage was permanent. It _should _be permanent. He feels a tug is his chest reminding him that he can't stay here wasting time, as fascinating as this might be.

This time at the wall of code, a section lights up as he nears it, recognising him and allowing him to pass and he shakes his head. Not only has Tony turned his brain into a sodding supercomputer, surrounded it with firewalls, but he can apparently set permission to allow him to pass. Only Tony Stark could manage something as ridiculous as this.

As he pulls back into his body the first thing he feels is pain, nausea and utter exhaustion.

Then he gets scolded.

"You stayed in there far too long."

He felt a trickle from his nose and quickly finds blood. Seeing paper in a bin it seems Wong had been cleaning up both of them and they'd lost quite a bit of blood. And a glance at the clock had 6 hours gone.

"I messaged Jim to say he was here and safe. He'll be unconscious for a bit. Did you do everything you needed? It looked painful."

"It was. The mind stone isn't pleasant on its own. That woman has somehow corrupted it further. Sheer brute force to make up for lack of skill. Red threads left clinging to memories and nightmares lashing out, leaching and killing everything around it."

They both shuddered, Wong looking extremely concerned at that.

"Don't worry, he's healing, even parts drained to black."

Wong didn't get surprised by much, so seeing his eyebrows shoot up was satisfying enough that he almost didn't mind the migraine building in his mind.

"When he wakes up, you two are going to explain this to me."

With that Wong busied himself making Tony comfortable and he just slumps. That had been much more taxing than he'd suspected and watching the colour already return to Tony's face makes him both happy and want to kick him because his migraine is worsening.

It only takes 20 minutes for Tony to wake up, much to Wong's shock. Not Stephens. He obviously isn't 100% just yet but he seems to feel better enough to explain to Wong about Extremis and his augmentations. Wong doesn't mention that the tesseract is an Infinity stone just yet, although he sees him make almost the same observation that he did. He has no idea how to even have that conversation.

**Tony POV**

**_4th October_**

Tony surfaced from the code he had immersed himself into with a deep breath. The level of data he now had access to was enough to use up a considerable amount of space in his mind, it had also taken nearly a day just to send the data from one session and play it back, watching how the algorithm worked with Barnes brain was, quite frankly, fascinating. He was still feeling a little tender after Stephy went rooting in his brain, but he'd slept for 4 hours straight on one night. Not nightmare free, but it was.. Less. He felt like he had a ton of new energy and was using it to completely focus on work and avoid any talk of therapists, for at least a little while.

He still didn't know the reason why they were having problems however, even with his newly scrubbed brain. Maybe it was because of Hydra's methods of brainwashing, maybe it was that chair that made him nauseated just thinking about it, heck, maybe Barnes just had a strange brain structure, maybe it was the serum. The serum was strange in itself and he had little data on how it affects the mind, and Barnes had a mutated serum at that. Natkas was mutated again and developed from Barnes, so he couldn't even ask her. He also didn't know if she'd approve of him helping Barnes, he might be harder to hurt now but Natka was still scary and was invested in his health.

He didn't know what it was but watching Barnes brain adapt over and over in each session to both work with and fight the algorithm at the same time was equal parts fascinating as it was absolutely infuriating. If it wasn't his job to make the algorithm work, he could easily just watch his brain change, adapt and thwart his attempts, and he had, for an _embarrassingly_ long time. But it was _fascinating_. So instead of just watching on the screen, he'd jumped in head first to see and experience what he could do to up the percentage of disassociation.

After several runs through he knew what _wouldn't _work.

Creating an algorithm and letting it run.

Which was the _plan _.

The whole way the glasses were _meant _to work, and it _didn't _.

He didn't know why. Which was getting annoying but it was also amazing. After a while he couldn't just watch and action the algorithm. He had an idea.

That idea had him swimming in the code, being directly involved, making minute changes things started to change drastically. That touch of human intuition and his pattern recognition skills apparently made quite the difference. He was using a session where they had tested it on a code word and it had been an abject failure, Barnes had ran through it 4 times before Shuri had refused to let him torture himself anymore. Which was a good call, he could have watched it 500 times and wouldn't have breached 14%. He himself tried nearly 30 different algorithms he wrote for the code specifically and barely hit 20% disassociation.

However effectively using himself as a constantly changing algorithm worked amazingly and hit over 98%. Friday tapped out at 36%. Which had led him to believe it was something that required the human intuition for some reason, FRIDAY was good, amazing even. But she couldn't make some of the intuitive leaps people could, or as FRIDAY claimed, utterly unconnected leaps that made no logical sense. As much as he could crow about his victory however… it was useless.

With the Binary to Wakandan uplink at it is, the delay was better, but it would render this method useless. It would be like playing a game with severe lag against someone with none. Plus, even with Barnes strange amount of trust in him, he highly doubted the super soldier would want Tony online whilst he was in a session. More than that, editing the algorithm running on the headset as the session ran. That was a huge ask and Tony couldn't bring himself to do it.

At least it had given him some ideas, maybe if he can run through several sessions that Shuri sends him, he could immerse himself each time she finally work out how Barnes brain was working. That way he could write an adaptive program instead. It might even be able to run alone, although he highly doubted that.

He and Shuri would need to keep improving the code integration, there was just too much data to send back and forth they needed it to work much faster than it currently was. At this rate, sending little hard drives back and forth in drones would be sodding quicker. Squinting at the calendar he starts sorting projects in his head. If he focuses and pushes back some other projects, he might be able to have it up and running by Saturday. Shuri would either be impressed, enthusiastic or considering how much of her time had been sucked into her current project that had been keeping her up, utterly unimpressed with his overly enthusiastic ideas. Luckily for her, most of the work was on his end, she just had to action it if he did it right.

Clearing everything Tony brings up the current Wakanda uplink files, stretching he made himself comfortable.

'Fry, I'm going to be unavailable for a while, don't let anyone but Level 6 people in the workshop, no matter what permissions they have.'

'Sure thing Da. I'll set alarms for you to surface routinely, you don't feel your body when you go as deep as your planning.'

Tony smiled, sending a brush off code against her knowing that she'd look after him.

With that, he rested his hands on the desk in front of him, not that he needed contact with the hard drive, he was wirelessly linked to everything in his workshop. But when he was diving in like this, physical contact with the drive he was working in sped everything up and increased the scope of his abilities.

His fingers brushing the metal, with the hum that he feels down to his bones, he can't help but grin and feel a thrill go through his as his right eye flashes completely gold and code flows from his mind around him. Weaving a pathway between them that's much more to his liking.

* * *

Added image reference for Tony's Suit from Marvel Fandom Wiki! (Where I spend too much time..)


	16. Chapter 16 - Notes via Kitten

**Notes Via Kitten**

**Tony POV**

_**4th October**_

Tony pulls himself from his work when he realises his alarm has been blaring at him. Probably for a while actually. He stretched his back out, feeling his spine pop a few times, likely because he had held the same position for so long. He dug his knuckles to try and alleviate the dull ache that had set in before just deciding to ignore it, Extremis would probably help rid him of it soon. Either way, small occasionally pains were better than what state his back would be in if he'd sat for that long pre-Extremis.

He pushed away from the desk and decided to stop instead of diving right back in. He'd just sent a bunch of updates to Shuri so he figured he'd give her a call. Slipping his glasses he doesn't have to wait long for Shuri to pop up on the screen. He grins and waves and she was already rolling her eyes, that boded well for him.

"How long have you been working on the integration today Tony, I came down and I can barely recognise it!"

"I didn't have much choice, the latest data packet you sent on Barnes, his mind is adapting too fast. I don't know how it's doing it, his mind seems to move as fast as my algorithms.."

"You sound impressed that his brain is literally screwing with us."

He just grinned at Shuri's raised eyebrow.

"What? It's a challenge. I like challenging things."

"Even when it's causing us problems?"

"Shuri have you really watched it when he's in a session? The code changes around the algorithm. No matter how I code it. I literally did not think that was possible."

"And this is a… Good thing?"

"Well, until we get around it, getting shot of the words is practically stalled. But I didn't think it was possible for someone's brain to do this. I love impossible things. It's beautiful."

Shuri just rolled her eyes and was pulling things up in the background, as much as she was grousing, he bets she's looking at the deeper data levels he's been in.

"So, what's you next step?"

"It depends on him. After the integration is complete, I could write an adaptive program instead, but I'd need to be online to guide it."

Actually online, as in immersed online, but he can't tell Shuri that bit. Dammit, he's gone from lying to the patient and now he's lying to them both. Sighing internally he decides at some point he'll have to tell Shuri, he wanted to do it in person however, but she won't be leaving Wakanda while Barnes is vulnerable, he can tell she has gotten quite attached. As much as he would love to visit Wakanda, he can't enter their country without them knowing about his abilities, it didn't feel right, especially with how long he'd been working on the integration. Before, their non binary systems would have stumped him, but by now he's pretty much bilingual.

"I'm sure he'll be fine with it, he's happy for the help. I will ask him though."

"Hmm, still not so sure about that."

Even with the letter he had been mulling over how to respond, jumping to this seemed a bit of a stretch and he was overly conscious of appearing as the only option for viable treatment.

"Why are you boys such idiots?"

Shuri mutters under her breath, he tilts his head in question but before he can ask his phone alarm starts blaring obnoxiously.

"FRIDAY! Why did you set my alarm to that!"

He glares at his phone whilst Shuri is chuckling in the background.

"Sue told me to set it to something utterly obnoxious so you don't forget to come around for dinner."

"Crap! Gotta go Shuri!"

Shuri laughs as the call ends, he glanced down, realising he didn't change from earlier so is ready to go. Huh. That was handy, he'd been fiddling with the nanites and the Bleeding Edge armour before he got distracted by the latest code arriving so he's still in the nanite-suit. It still felt kind of odd wearing a fight suit under a suit but he had actually started to get used to the sensation by now. Relying on the nanite-suit also seems handy when he's feeling lazy, or potentially late. He slipped off his workshop sunglasses and replaced them with a nano-tech pair from the watch hive and jogged towards the garage to make his way over.

All in, he ends up being 10 minutes _early_ for dinner with Sue and the family, which is extra amusing as Reed, who_ lives in the building_ ends up 15 minutes late because he got caught up in his experiments, Sue dragged him out and he looked surprised to see Tony.

One reason he always loves visiting Reed, he makes him feel less like a disaster human.

It's extremely tempting to stretch into the tech humming around him, it's practically calling out to him, but he's pretty sure that's a rude thing to do to friends without permission. Even though he's here to tell Sue and Reed about Siberia under Bruce, Carol and Rhodey's sodding advice. Not many people could help him if there are any Extremis related issues, and out of that very select few, trusting someone with the formula is rarer. Bruce would be great but he's not up to trusting himself with things even peripherally similar to the serum. He will come in on it with Tony, but if Tony is ever out of commission he confided that he didn't want to be in charge unless there were no other options. Bruce pointed out that if someone else was involved who could have stripped down the formula, he might not be Mr 101 abilities guy. Well, that was a slight exaggeration.

So Tony was setting himself up with a team of medical proxies. Sue and Reed are pretty much the best back up he could have, but that of course means actually telling them about it.

Going through the painful story for yet another time is equally uncomfortable, even though Sue is lovely, as she always is, and Reed is asking 60 questions about Extremis and his tech capabilities a minute. Which is pretty fun to be honest. The anger Ben has towards Rogers possibly shocks him the most. Watching Reed get slapped for hyper-fixating on the potential tech abilities? Priceless.

"So, you can affect any tech around you?"

"Yes Reed. No, I haven't touched your systems. I'd probably get a migraine if I did."

He grinned, if the two of them had ended up in the same direction when it came to Science, they could have ended up as quite nasty rivals. Reed was a little smarter than him, but his multitasking skills were superior. As such, they mostly tried to out compete each other while Sue sat by. Glaring at them for being idiots. Especially that one time they nearly vapourised Reed's lab, but he is still convinced that was completely not his fault.

"Boss! Spiderman's suit has been compromised!"

"What! He's not even.. He's meant to be at home! Who is near him?"

Dammit, it was a school night and he was meant to be patrolling less on school nights and tonight was an off night. Although he isn't really that surprised. It's Peter. If he heard something after school, he'd go after it, patrol or no, which considering he was meant to be bringing Ned over again tonight…

"He's not far from you, anyone else on duty will take 17 minutes to get to him."

"Is he with..?"

"Yes."

"Dammit, Sue, I'm sorry, I have to dash, can you open that window for me?"

Johnny jumps up to open the window and everyone is looking around a bit confused, at the half conversation likely. Dammit, Tony is going to murder that kid, telling Ned didn't mean taking Ned on some kind of patrol after school..! He starts striding towards the open window, letting his red suit reform around him into the Ironman armour. Not noticing the stunned look on Johnny's face.

"See you next week Tony!"

Sue called as he flew out of the window waving behind him, just catching what Johnny said before he pushed the latest development he'd added to the suit. He wanted to get far enough away to not shatter the window with the force like he had at the compound.

"Did his suit just turn into the armour?!"

After that, he locked on to the signal in Peter's suit, knowing full well that Carol was going to chew him out as he wasn't on active duty, and he was so going to chew Peter out right back. He hadn't even had much of a chance to test the boosts he'd made to the flight parameters yet. He definitely wasn't meant to be in the field yet.

"No time like the present, kick it FRIDAY."

The speed increase was much improved over his last upgrade and it only took him 4 minutes to come up on Peter who was stood in between Ned and a mugger he presumed. Oh, and another guy was webbed to a wall. How this situation had even come up, he had no idea. The HUD flashed the location of the man's gun, it had at least been webbed and tossed to the floor behind Ned and it was dark enough in the alley the kid hadn't gone and picked it up or something equally disastrous. Peter was stuck fighting him hand to hand. Unable to swing away with because he would not be able to carry them both with his leg bleeding that much and the pain had his reactions down. From FRIDAYs scan he knew the bullet had grazed him more than anything else, but he could see the very deep furrow on his thigh from too far away for his liking. He was enhanced but he could still pass out from blood loss and he was wavering.

He dropped down behind the man, not willing to risk Peter or his very human, very squishy friend, he just grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt and wrenched him back, tossing against the wall hard enough to jar him considerably before pulling one of the containment forcefields he'd been tinkering with. Possibly putting more strength than necessary into it, but considering how Tony wanted to do something much more painful and much more permanent, a little concussion is not too bad in his mind.

"Level 4, Fry."

Originally a SHIELD design, he had altered the containment fields and had them formed into a small, hand held balls, that he now threw at the idiots feet. A blue spherical forcefield popped up around him. Containing him and any other weapons he might have. He tried to pick up the ball and got a zap from FRIDAY, making him pull his hand back in pain.

"Jess and Matt are going to be here in 9 minutes, come here let me see that wound."

He pulled the two infuriating teens further down the alleyway, throwing up a scrambler so they wouldn't be seen. He was absolutely kicking himself for not installing the nano hives into Peter's suit yet. If he had, the suit would have self repaired and sealed the wound until he got to med bay.

"Was there not a safer way you could have done this?"

"Yes, but.."

"No buts! You literally got shot!"

He pulled from the suit, replacing any nanites from those in his watch and had the nanites seal Peters wound. Trying to ignore the sounds of pain he was making and failing. He didn't know if he wanted to strangle the kid or hug him. Peter slumped against him, so he went with a hug, but hadn't counted out future potential strangling. He couldn't risk doing much else, he wasn't sure how his ability would react right now. Especially after the lights above them exploded spectacularly when he had gotten a closer look at the wound, and the forcefield around generic bad guy fluttered at Peter's pain from the nanites. He closed his eyes and started the stupid, annoying breathing exercises Bruce had him learn. He had everything locked down tight but he felt like he was holding back a surge of water. It wanted out, he wanted out, but that was dangerous. He wanted to rage, surge and suddenly feeling a little Tony Smash.

All he had to do was last two more minutes for Jess and Matt to finally get to them. Peter seemed to sense his control was low and stayed a solid presence. Ned was mostly freaking out, but quietly, so that was good, he was impressed. He had kind of squeaked at the exploding lights and was giving him occasional looks, but not much else. He knew if he wasn't careful he could cause some serious problems, he didn't even want to think what buildings he was near, he doubted that would reduce the stress and just tried to keep it pulled in. Fuck, If he was near something like a hospital and he accidentally let his control sli-

"Ironman!"

He breathed out a little but didn't dare let the control slip. Even with people there. He couldn't risk it.

"Jess, good."

His words were clipped out, he put his attention into bustling the two kids into the car. Dropping in with them. Laura was driving, Matt immediately got the first aid kid out and passed it to him. Jess started to walk over to the guy who shot Peter.

"Um, how do I get him out of the glowy ball.. thing?"

"FRIDAY will disable it when the police arrive, pick up the silver looking bouncy ball and pocket it. I only have 2 of them."

Jess nodded and kicked the car door shut, already knowing how to deal with Peter's tactic of webbing people to things, and Laura started heading back to the compound. He knew she'd come up with something to tell the police.

Tony started reforming his suit so he could deal with Peter and not be sat covered in metal in a car. When he was back in more regular looking clothes, he pulled the nanites away from Peter's wound to his watch, just as Peter pulled his own mask off hissing in pain. Having a wound patched with nanites wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing in the world, especially with an increased healing factor. Tony gave him his hand to crush.

"I know Pete, I'm sorry."

Luckily after so many years or patching people up after battle, or more honestly, patching himself up in his workshop because he dodged medical. Tony was quite proficient at it. Peter was definitely not dodging medical as that was a nastier injury than he'd first suspected.

When he was done he put his hands on either side of the kids head and rested his forehead against his. Peter's colours where a whirlwind at this distance, barely able to make out any of them, but he didn't care. He needed to See them.

"I'm sorry."

"I know kid. I'm sorry I yelled, just.."

"I didn't mean to get shot?"

He and Matt couldn't help but laugh at that. Ned was gaping slightly at them oddly.

"I'd be worried if you did. It grazed a huge chunk out of your thigh. Promise me, no patrols until I upgrade your suit?"

Peter just nodded, it was obvious the kid was in a lot of pain and there were not many pain meds that worked on his metabolism. Whilst he healed faster than most, he would still need stitches and that was not going to be fun. He let Peter crush his hand for the rest of the car ride while Matt talked to Ned to distract the kid. Peter was starting to get a little woozy as they got to the compound so Tony just picked him up, ignoring his protests.

"Tony! Glasses."

Tony swore as Laura tapped her temple, he didn't bother to stop walking and summoned the nanites to form the glasses as he marched into the med bay that were expecting him. Laura brought a still shocked looking Ned in behind them with. Matt vanished, probably to check up on Jess.

"I'm pretty sure it's fine now? I don't need stitches."

"I'm sorry Peter, that needs stitches."

The doctor turned after that to set up while Peter looked pretty green. Stitches sucked, especially when you could feel the thread pulling through your skin, which was surprisingly the worst part in Tony's mind. He had thought it would have been the needle stabbing repeatedly, or the wound being pulled together, nope, that weird sensation was by far the worst. Unfortunately he'd had more than one set of stitches in unfortunate circumstances to know.

"You can crush my hand, and after Carol yells at us both, we can get ice-cream."

By the end Tony has discovered there is a worst part to getting stitches that he'd never thought of before.

Watching a kid you care about getting them. That. That is the worst.

**Tony POV**

**5th October **

"How are you finding them Sour Patch?"

Tony glanced up from his phone where he just got a text from Shuri, confirming in his mind that the Super Soldier is definitely desperate, as he'd given Tony permission to go ahead with the adaptive programme, with him online guiding it. He put the phone on the table in front of him and focused on Rhodey who had just been walking around the compound because he could.

"They're awesome Tones."

The slight sounds of the servos as Rhodey moved over to him assured him everything was running fine. He'd found his abilities seemed to connect better to tech that he'd personally made, especially if he'd spent as much time on it as he had Rhodey's braces. It was like they spoke a very specific language that he somehow understood without actually pushing his ability out. He didn't know if this was some kind of passive form, or if using his tech related abilities had become natural enough that he didn't notice he was doing it.

Just as Rhodey sat down comfortably, someone rang the doorbell. Rhodey gave him a _'what are you going to do'_ shrug as he'd just sat down with clearly no interest in going to the door.

What was odd in itself, most people who came to visit had permission from FRIDAY to just let them in. Tony isn't even sure when he last _heard_ his doorbell. Sighing he hopped up.

"Who is it FRIDAY."

"It's a courier Boss."

"A what now?"

"A courier service is a service that allows someone to send a parcel or consignment from one location to another."

"FRIDAY. I know what a courier is. I was wondering why one is at my door."

"That's easy to find out Boss."

"Hm?"

"Answer the door."

Tony squints at one of the cameras, he's pretty sure he didn't code this kind of sass into FRIDAY and wonders where she is getting it from as he makes his way to the door to Rhodey's laughter.

**Rhodey POV **

"Um Rhodey" Tony called out, baffled, holding the box that had just been handed to him by the courier as he made his way back into the living room.

"What was it Tones?"

"Just a question, you haven't been sending me emails with offering to kill Rogers have you?"

Rhodey frowned whilst flicking the TV off. What? Not that he wouldn't mind getting a good punch or two in, but no death threats.

"No, what? Why would you think it was me?"

"Well, you do occasionally say you're going to kill him, and I thought you were joking around sending me emails about it, so I never actually looked into the sender as they were all from different throwaway accounts…"

"No, not me, but I'd like to meet them. Sounds like my kind of person."

"Still not sure how you'd get on with Deadpool. But he sent me a cat. Well… A Kitten. With a note.. And he knows Peter. I'm so confused right now. How does Peter know Deadpool? Can I have a kitten? How do I make sure Goose doesn't eat him out of jealousy..? And, again, most importantly. HOW DOES PETER KNOW DEADPOOL?!"

Huh.

He knew about Deadpool.. peripherally, but he'd never _met_ the man. Tony had always kept certain parts of his life separate and although he was in most parts of Tony's world, occasionally Tony kept bits on the side, especially if he thought he wouldn't approve of them or for his _'safety'_. Sometimes it was for straight up plausible deniability. Deadpool was all of the above apparently.

Like he'd originally kept him separate from the Avengers, he'd thought at first, like Pep, that he'd traded in his friends for his superhero friends. Stupidly, as Tony never showed any hint of abandoning him. Now he knows that Tony was just run ragged and wanted his time with him to be less stressful, even for the small glimpses they got between the Airforce and the Avengers. Plus, Tony already had practice compartmentalising people and aspects of him life, although lately after nearly dying he was blurring those lines more and more each day. Slowly bringing those pieces together when he'd made it safe, usually with individualised Accords Councils. He'd seen some of Stranges contract, it was nothing like anyone else and most of it was redacted by the time it got to him. Tony was very careful in how he protected his friends.

So, Rhodey knew a _bit_ about Deadpool, mostly about how he and Tony got on. Tony just said he was a _'little weird'_. Which in normal people speak was off the charts most likely. But the pair got on unsurprisingly well, not that Rhodey could decipher their texts that could be actually pages long, flicking topics mid sentence, (he'd thought it was code but no, it was just how they talked) or just single words that seemed utterly unconnected. Like that time Tony had been uncontrollably laughing and the only thing on the screen was a picture of a lettuce. He didn't know if he _wanted_ to know, but Tony just choked out something about icebergs. There had been a few instances where Tony had taken a break and vanished. Everyone else thought he was in a flash hotel, when really, he and Deadpool would just go off grid for 3-8 days. Tony would then return, utterly exhausted and crash for nearly a whole day and nothing more was said. Even Pepper and Happy didn't know about Deadpool.

When the pair had first met it was when they were both relatively _'normal'_. In other words, before powers and Ironman were involved. Neither of them could ever be considered _'normal'_, it's probably why they had gotten along so well.

"That was too much information. What is happening to our lives. Insane mercs never used to send you cats when you were just chasing the next adrenaline high. Thing is, I'm not even that shocked, you know? My ability to be shocked by our lives has died a dramatic death."

Tony plucks the tiny kitten out of the blankets as Rhodey contemplates what he got himself in for, it's mostly black, except for a few white markings he noticed, Tony was tilting his head to study him as the tiny kitten studied him right back. A white blaze on his chest, adorable little white feet, topped off with a fabulous moustache. He sits next to Rhodey and just, blinks for a second, because seriously.

Tony is probably mostly perplexed about how _Peter_ knows Deadpool. He is just wondering why people with reputations like Deadpool were sending Tony kittens. Before deciding that it was probably Peter's influence.

Rhodey _knows_ how alike Tony and Peter are, and whilst he might not have seen it coming, it's _really_ not that shocking. Give Peter a decade and he'd have a collection of wayward heroes too. He's just started early. Although he's not sure starting with Deadpool is a good choice. But then, Tony started with an off kilter Hulk with little control, and he'd repeatedly poked him during a high stress situation including an alien invasion and norse gods, so again. _Not surprising_.

He knew that Tony hadn't been in contact with Deadpool much after the Avengers moved in, when his life had been Avengers consumed. But he hadn't utterly dropped contact. Tony just scheduled his _trips_ for when the other Avengers were away or disguised them as business trips.

Tony had told him how he really didn't have the energy for the Cap-Lecture if those two had met accidentally, so Deadpool popping up to abduct Tony instances had decreased somewhat. Tony going on super important _'business trips'_ had however increased. Or as Tony said, if the DP can't come to him, then he'd go to the DP.

Although, Rhodey thinks, whilst Tony is scratching his beard and stroking the tiny kitten, an offer of murder plus kitten was probably Deadpools way of saying _'Hi, long time no see'._ Especially as Tony hadn't really gone anywhere post Siberia. He wondered if he'd told Deadpool about his augmentations. Wait. No, he probably had and it was probably a text along the lines of _'Guess who has super powers now bitch!'_ Or he was waiting to surprise him. They were equally as plausible.

So yeah, this was probably a normal hello. For them.

Just with a side of murder.

And a kitten.

"FRIDAY. Call Peter."

Tony calls out whilst handing the note that came with the kitten to Rhodey. It didn't say much.

Just-

'Rescued this kitten with Spidey. He couldn't keep it and ranted for 2 hours about kill shelters. So, I decided you need a kitten. Also, offers still open to kill Captain Spandex. - DP.'

Rhodey hummed while Tony mumbled to himself that this might have been the most normal conversation he'd ever had with Deadpool… and it came via courier kitten. Well, _that_ says _something_ about their relationship, what that something is? He has no clue. Rhodey just chuckled and shook his head.

"Hi Mr Stark!"

Peters voice popped up on his phone. Tony knocked it onto speaker and set it in between them.

"Kid, how many times must I tell you to call me Tony. Just calling because I received a parcel."

"Oh? What is it?"

Peter said, in the most _unconvincing_ voice ever.

He was biting his cheek trying not to laugh at Tony's serious Dad-Face.

"Hmmm. Yes. How long have you known Deadpool?"

Tony and Rhodey winced as the phone crashed loudly to the floor. The kitten looked at the phone with a look of utter disgust. Hissed and climbed up Tony's chest. Seriously, how had this kid even kept his secret identity was a question that Rhodey puzzled out daily.

"Where do you think your going, oh mighty panther?"

Tony tilted his head and watched the kitten. Rhodey face palmed because he knew, just knew, now that Tony was going to keep it, he had that same look on his face when he went around collecting wayward Shield agents, teenagers and hero's. The man had a _problem_. The kitten made it to his shoulder, obviously happy with his great feat and crawled into Tony's jumper and promptly went to sleep. So, Tony had a _bit_ of a problem when it came to bringing strays home. After Siberia it had upped somewhat to a manic level, like Tony was practically nesting and collecting all the disparate parts of his life and putting them under one roof.

He was not at all concerned about Deadpool potentially moving in. Or about the other people Tony occasionally mentioned in passing.

Nope. Oh god, the idea of Tony, Stephen and Deadpool in one location. Yeah, that was enough to give him chills.

"Uh, sorry about that. And whaaaat? Who is Deadpool? I don't know a Deadpool."

"I'm gonna stop you there kid, because Deadpool sent me a kitten with your name attached."

"Dammit! I knew I should have written the note!"

"That kind of teaches you to put DP in control of anything now doesn't it."

Tony said, attention split between the cat and Peter.

"So, how'd you meet him? I didn't take him for your usual company."

"He's fine! It's fine! I just bumped into him a few times doing my rounds and he occasionally helps out. He even didn't kill anyone!"

Rhodey smirked at Tony, and started laughing at him. Tony shot him an unimpressed look but it was just hilarious.

"Rhodey, why are you laughing, befriending people like DP at 15 is not a laughing matter!"

Tony whisper yelled because he apparently didn't want to wake the kitten. Which really wasn't helping Rhodey stop laughing.

"But he's you!"

Rhodey choked out, leaving Tony and Peter confused.

"I don't think Mr Stark is that much like Deadpool!"

"Are you comparing me to Deadpoo- wait, much? How am I _anything_ like Deadpool?!"

"Why are you whispering?"

Peter whispered into the phone. And that just set Rhodey off again, Tony kept a hold of his arm, probably worried he was going to laugh himself off of the sofa. Whilst glaring him, which again, really not helping the laughing.

"No, no Peter is _you_. He's got your 'collect the people you should flee from' gene."

Peter and Tony huffed at this. In practically the exact same way, which still didn't help with the laughter.

"I don't collect _that_ many people and most of them are fluffy bunnies! Well, Some of them are more 'The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog' in Jessica's case, but still. _Bunnies_!"

"Tony, within like 2 minutes of meeting Banner, you started poking him. Repeatedly."

Tony just huffed and showed his maturity by sticking his tongue out.

"At least tell me DP isn't dragging you into his shenanigans?"

Tony said, tiredly. Peter gave a little start at that. So he'd probably already been involved in said shenanigans.

Rhodey snorted, because he suspected Tony had been involved in Deadpool's shenanigans. Probably got Deadpool involved in his own chaos too.

"Nothing crazy! He just crosses my patrols occasionally, that's all!"

Rhodey had to admit, if Deadpool was anything like Tony, and he suspected that he was at least a little. If the guy had also worked out how old Peter was, it was kind of the thing he'd do, especially based on what little Tony had told him about him. Track him, and occasionally intervene when necessary. Tony couldn't say much, he was kind of doing the same thing… he apparently had come to the same conclusion. As Peter hung up, stuttering about classes or something.

"Does this mean I'm Co-Superhero-Kind-of-Parenting/Mentoring Peter… With _Deadpool_."

That just started him laughing again and he barely managed to rasp out a "Yes" before he nearly slipped of the sofa. Tony snagging him just in time.

"I know I've said this a lot lately. But what is my life?"

"I don't know Tones, my life was pretty normal so this is all on you."

"So what should I do now?"

"You mean about Deadpool?"

"No, the kitten."

Yup. That would be the most important take home from all of this.

"I'll text Carol."

When he didn't get a reply he waved a hand in front of Tony's face and realised he must have gotten distracted in the uplink. Since he started using his abilities more freely he occasionally did that now, not realising how deep he'd gone.

" Fry, what's he doing?"

"He's buying cat toys colonel."

"Of course he is."

**Tony POV**

It was a few hours later when Tony grudgingly left the kitten with Rhodey, who was now named Tiny Thor, due to the idea he could fight pretty much _everything_. Even the _toaster_. Which was hilarious, and he was so happy he healed fast as Thor seemed liked chewing and clawing his arm happily whilst being adorable.

Carol was coming around and Tony was still feeling a little… off kilter since the Empath incident. He didn't blame Carol or anything, or maybe a little, but he wanted to get that out of his head before hanging around with Carol again. Plus he actually had his first sparring session with Matt and Jessica.

Which would be the first time he'd sparred properly since he got his Extremis upgrade. Definitely the first time he could 'let go' so to speak.

He could probably fight in the suit easily enough, people expected the suit to hit hard. But he did need more practice controlling his technopathy. Using it more had increased his control, but it had also increased what he could do, as well as strength and range, like exercising a muscle. Which to him, mostly seemed to have increased things that could go wrong. Typically. Exploding lights seemed to be his new thing. He was starting to carry lightbulbs around with him because it was easier to just replace them after exploding them.

He'd also had trouble convincing Matt and Jess that he could even fight without the suit. Rogers had always had him suited for training sessions and he had just gone along with it. There weren't that many situations were he fought without the suit, and Roger's didn't seem to think he could protect himself without it, so there was 'no point' training without the suit. Or something, Tony had just gone along with it because the other option would result in complicated questions. So in his files, that Tony didn't know about, as they were on _paper_ for bloody hells sake, Tony had been put as non-combatant out of the suit, with no training. Joy.

Unless it was a kidnapping of course, but by now, people pretty much just assumed he would get out, _'somehow'_. Even Nat hadn't really question it. He was rich and pampered, why would he know how to fight and all that jazz. The main answer to that was pretty simple really.

Peggy.

She hadn't been impressed with his getting picked up as a kid under Jarvis' watch, so from as early as she could, she had him training or dragged him down the shooting range. He had been better at the shooting range very young. Plus he knew most of the weapons growing up anyway because Howard made sure he knew what they made. It had taken him a while to grow into his limbs and was more than a little clumsy. But by the time he did, he'd been training every chance Peggy got, when she was busy, she sent people. Dodging a training session of any kind dictated by Peggy was highly unwise, even if they were boring, like subterfuge. He sucked at that, Shay was right. But he'd gotten good at hiding things, easy just to show people what they expected, they were less likely to question if you confirmed their preconceived beliefs.

Howard had gone along with it all to 'toughen him up' and stop him acting like a kid. Plus if he was with Peggy, then he wasn't in the way.

Sparring with Matt and Jess turned out to actually be quite fun and he realised he had distinctly missed it these last few years. He was slightly out of touch, but with the boost Extremis had to his system, it didn't take him too long to get back on track. Which was pretty awesome.

Although anytime he got nervous about how hard he was accidentally hitting them, the two just came at him at once until he stopped which was an interesting tactic he was _so_ using on Shay someday. At a break when Matt was grabbing a drink, Jess was sweating a little too, thanks to Extremis he just relaxed against the wall mostly unphased. Jess was glaring at him and he had a feeling he was going to pay for this.

"So, Tony, why didn't Rogers have you training like this?"

"I think he figured I only needed to train as Ironman?"

"But what if you were caught out of the suit?"

Jess looked utterly unimpressed and even Matt was frowning. He just shrugged, it hadn't really been something he'd thought of at the time. Rogers not having him train with Nat or Clint actually worked in his benefit so he didn't rock the boat, as he wouldn't have been able to fake sucking at it for long. He'd slip up, a punch would come at him and he'd suddenly block it and then he'd have to explain where, and probably who for that matter, had trained him.

"Well I used to take the suitcase suit, or the bracelets to call the suit."

"You telling me you never got caught in a situation without the suit on hand?"

Ha. A little too often. Loki hurling him out of a window came to mind, just because the god couldn't take a dick joke.

"Well.. Maybe Jess. But not often? I had my watch gauntlet back when the Winter Soldier was triggered."

Jess just pinched her nose in frustration and Matt was trying not to laugh. He'd actually meant that to be comforting. If he'd not had it, that wouldn't have been fun. Jess was glaring and Matt was too busy being bent over laughing to talk.

"Tell me.. Tell me Tony that you didn't go up against the Winter Soldier with just your damn watch!?"

"Well.."

"You know, Rhodey told me you had negative self preservation instincts. I didn't realise how bad!"

"It was fine! The gauntlet caught the bullet, I dismantled his gun, and then it was less fine with the flying into the table, but still."

Matt was still chuckling as he directed him back to the sparring mats. Considering Matt has a tendency to throw himself into ridiculous situations, he figured he's not alone in this. Although Jess is less impressed and he had a feeling she was going to let him know about it in a rather direct fashion.

"You, are a trouble magnet. That's why it's important you train out of the suit too."

"I am not disagreeing. Although it was kind of useful, considering I mostly trained with Shaylo back then, explaining that would have been tricky."

Jess is definitely less easy on him for round two which means he has to let go a little of the hold on Extremis to keep up with them both, whilst still constantly working to not explode tech around him. That's why they're training in a room that actually doesn't have a purpose yet. It's part of the new building at the back of Guard HQ.

Just a blank room that didn't have much installed yet and he'd already blown out two of the lights. One of them was actually hanging off the wall, still shining, when he was pretty sure it shouldn't be able to do that, so that was interesting.

Keeping his focus on his tech abilities had been getting easier, but with 2 people attacking you, that made it tricky. As it was like all his Extremis abilities wanted to come online to help him fight, like overeager puppies, which was good for the speed and strength. Exploding lights was not really that good in a fight, especially as it made him flinch as much as the others. If not more because it felt like a pop going off in his head.

First he wanted to focus on the tech ability being _controlled_ whilst fighting, when he had that down, then and only then, would he consider training to use it as well during a fight some how.

As of now, you couldn't drag him near the actual sparring floors. Not until he could fight without accidentally blowing things up. A light - that's easy to fix. The almost excessively complicated battle ground simulation tech he'd installed in the sparring floors? No, he didn't want to blow up that baby, or potentially cause something worse, somehow. When Extremis went weird, it went _weird. _

What didn't help however was that his mind kept wandering and he practically had to drag it back on track _multiple_ times. Sure parallel thought wasn't new to him, but fighting had always streamlined his thoughts. There was enough going on in a fight to occupy his mind. He was always monitoring things around him and his opponent, thinking moves ahead, tracking patterns and such. There was enough variety of sensory input to keep him leveled out. So even his mind could be entirely focused on the task, sure it was still doing multiple things, but they were all _on task._ Now, it wasn't enough. There was still space. Space in his mind could be dangerous.

Peter's getting shot had been front and centre for a while now, but from different angles. Currently, he was rethinking the nanites he'd used to seal the wound and how he could improve on it, how he could leverage the nanoparticles from the hives to aid in tissue regeneration as well as to seal wounds. That nearly got him punched in the face too when he got too excited about that idea.

The only reason it didn't, was that he'd been fighting Jess long enough now that he was starting to pick up on her patterns and he had moved his head without really thinking about it, whilst his mind was elsewhere. Not from actually paying attention to the fight. Matt picked up on that.

"You pick up on patterns scarily fast."

"Yeah, even when he's _distracted_."

Jess added on to Matt whilst leveling a glare at him. He shelved the new idea for later development and hoped that would be enough to make him stop going back to it.

"Did Extremis give you that ability?"

"Nope, that's pure ol' fashioned, Tony Stark - Original Flavour. Now, downloading different martial arts into my brain for fun, That's Tony Stark - New Flavours."

Jess just smacked his head affectionately before jumping back in. He had to admit Extremis was definitely good for somethings. Usually after Sparring with Shay, the next day he was a walking bruise, sure for about 4 hours after he was buzzing with energy. Like he could take on the world. Then he'd sleep and wake up with his muscles so stiff, walking to coffee was a challenge until he loosened up. As he got older, that had been less fun. Now, he could feel Extremis working to keep him in top form constantly, even when he was fighting, bruises didn't so much get a chance to form before they healed, unless it was a serious one. Jess managed to leave him with a few that actually look some time to heal after she worked out she wasn't going to break him. Her strength still out matched him, he leveled it out with his speed. The constant feeling of healing was extremely weird however and also utterly distracting, but he was slowly starting to get used to it. Jess was helping by pummelling the crap out of him. _'Helping' _

It was get used to it or find himself flat on his ass after all.

**Tony POV**

_**7th October**_

'Da, you have a visitor at reception.'

'Hmm'

Tony didn't really register what FRIDAY had said, he'd been deep in Wakandas code pretty much since he had dropped the kids off for school. The only break he'd taken was to go over the new data packets Shuri had sent over with how the code was integrating and Barnes sessions.

He probably shouldn't have spent as long as he did in the latter, but apparently watching Barnes brain twist, turn and adapt was as mind-blowing as the first time. Second and third too. He wasn't actually sure what time he was on now… but he suspected someone would be judgey about it. The only people who knew about this new little hobby of his was Shuri, but he'd only told her about it once. And his new therapist, that he saw after Jess pounded on him till she was too tired to continue. He'd kind of thrown it at the woman as a test.

Miss Derwydd was definitely odd. Her colours were _extremely_ weird but she had a trusting appearance and when she'd told him that nothing he said will pass from her, it had a ring of truth to it that he couldn't explain, when she'd said it her colours had slowed to a near stop and the room felt oddly heavy. She'd seemed amused by his reaction but said nothing more, pointing out it was his therapy. Not hers. So he'd dropped a few things that might shock people about his family, each one testing the waters and watching her colours intently enough that he'd actually had a migraine for hours after to go with his sore shoulder. After, she asked if she'd passed his test and then set about asking him questions. He'd suspected she'd go for the usual, father issues, or set about making him relive every traumatic things he'd experienced. Instead they'd just.. _Talked_. About Helping with Coopers homework, what book he was reading the girls at night, what it was like keeping up with his new diet, that one had actually been a bit heavy. But it didn't seem much different than talking to Rhodey. Just.. _Chatting_. She said if he wanted to bring something up to talk he could, no pressure.

It didn't really _feel_ like much, but then it was one session. Rhodey had been blindingly happily, literally, his colours lit up like the damn 4th of July times Bonfire Night, so he was to keep it up.

_For now,_ at least, he was still unsure about how talking about things he wanted to forget could help him.

'Da! You really should go and see the visitor.'

'Visitor? What Visitor? I cleared my calendar.'

'It's a surprise, so I've turned of the cameras before you ask, you need a break so go.'

'Well I guess I have no choice then?'

'Nope!'

'I'm sure I didn't code you to be so demanding.'

'I am what you made me Da.'

He hummed to that, and did a quick check of his clothing. Comfortable black jeans, the new black combat boots Jess had bought him that were almost shockingly comfortable, and a long sleeved soft top that Peter had bought him in black and silver. No stains, tears or grease. He figured it was presentable enough for surprise visitors, activating the disk on the back of his mind with a small push of power and smiled when it responded. He'd started working on more delicate actions now on Bruce's recommendation and it had already improved his control significantly.

Bruce had upped his training after the thing with Peter, especially as he'd walked in on Tony after Peter had fallen asleep, he was desperately trying to contain himself in the conference room he'd practically run into. Bruce surprised him and 5 of the 8 monitors, the lights and Bruce's phone either exploded spectacularly or in the cases of Bruce phone, mostly wiped itself and coded some weird stuff that Tony had apparently been thinking about earlier today. Long story short, Bruce's phone now had an AI. A very _needy_ AI, that occasionally didn't let Bruce send texts and cried when he mentioned getting another phone. Hulk loved him and called him Hulk Junior.

Bruce had since stepped up Tony's training.

At least Green Bean was happy.

Bruce was not sure fatherhood was for him.

He started heading off to reception, closing everything down in the lab with a thought whilst forming himself a pair of sunglasses with black mirrored lenses and realised all the black might be a bit standoffish? He switched the glasses to red with a thought. Not much else he could do without keeping Mystery Guest waiting, he could form a nanite suit over his clothes, but whilst the Ironman armour was okay over his clothes in a pinch, a flight suit was much better. The nanite-suit just didn't sit right on top of normal clothes, at least not heavy clothes. Generally, Mystery Guest should be thankful that his clothes were not ripped and stained, and that was mostly because of Peter. Clothes tended to vanish when Peter decreed them _'too ruined'_ now, occasionally they reappeared, repaired and completely cleansed of grease and stains, which considering what was going to wear them again felt pointless and how did Peter even get rid of some of these stains? Ancient trousers with 7 years of grease stains, that had been washed countless times, yet he still cleaned them fully.

Except his band tees, they got a free pass and he suspected that was Harleys intervention.

Out of all the people he could have suspected to find reading a science magazine at the main reception of the Avengers Private Labs… T'Challa hadn't been an option. He actually stopped to blink a few times because that.. He had really not been suspecting the king of bloody Wakanda.

"Meowthra!"

"Dr Stark, should I be writing down these names to Google their significance?"

"Na, what would be the fun in that? What brings you to our neck of the woods?"

"There was a council meeting scheduled today that got cancelled, I was already in America, so, I thought I'd drop by."

"Well that's a good reason, come on. You can even check on the code integration if you like?"

"Will you and Shuri ever be satisfied? I'm pretty sure version 7 worked for most of the planet."

"Yeah, but not with my systems, I'll even let you poke around the workshop. You could whip out those PhDs of yours that are gathering dust."

T'Challa just rolled his eyes at his antics, but then he lived with Shuri, so he figured anything he said or did to the king was probably tame. OK. He knew it was tame, Shuri had showed him her secret stash of videos when she was still fuming at T'Challa over Siberia. He had a feeling that lil KitKat was going to hold that grudge much longer than he was.

On the trip to the workshop he noticed that T'Challa was looking at his hands, a lot, more than than after they went for lunch even, he seemed to be looking for something. He wondered if Shuri had more of an idea about his hand than he suspected but he decided to pretend he wasn't seeing anything and just lead T'Challa and his guards to his workshop. Peter was going to lose his mind when he got home, which was one of the reasons he was bringing the king to the workshop.

Fridays was generally a Laura pick up date and the kids always came to the workshop. Usually to do some homework whilst he worked before they all headed up for dinner, if they were blissfully free of homework, most of the kids had projects they were working on. Occasionally they came just to drag him straight to dinner. Along the left side wall were 3 desks, heavily decorated for Harley, Peter and Tara. He was in the process of setting up a 4th after he caught Coop eyeing up the desks when he was helping him with his homework. The kid didn't say anything, which of course just spurred him into action faster really.

At this rate, that entire wall of his workshop would be kids desks instead of coffee cup graveyards and smoothie stations. The kids desks were like a mini version of his, holoscreens and chaos included. The last coffee cup graveyard was going to Cooper, he suspected that the Smoothie station would be next on the docket for Lilah.

T'Challa seemed amused looking at the kids desks, Harleys was Red and Black with intricate designs that he drawn himself. Tony and Harley had designed Peters in his colours with a distinctive spider theme. Tara's was a weird collection of purple, green and yellow shapes and stripes. But it was on its 7th repaint, so he'd given up trying to plan what she'd do next. Coopers was currently plain steel, empty except for the holoscreens.

"Yeah, the kids are slowly invading one by one."

"I like the decorations, they put a lot of work into them."

"Oh yeah, Tara likes to change hers weekly. Cooper doesn't know I've set him up a desk yet which is why it's empty. I have one more too set up for Lilah."

He grinned whilst flicking his hands over the several holoscreens around his work zone. Which had a lot more coffee cups than usual, now the graveyard was gone. Some were balanced on top of things or had become the foundation for other things.

" I did have another reason for turning up today.."

"Oh?"

"Well I'm sure Shuri has kept you updated on our guests?"

Tony sighed. He really didn't want to talk about the rogues. The rogues were… exhausting. They weren't even here anymore and they _still_ made him tired. He still hadn't watched the videos of the rogues reacting to his public appearances, although now Rhodey knew where they were, Carol would know soon. Maybe he could just let them watch them. Then if there was anything important, it could be dealt with and he wouldn't have to see them. Stephy was a good option too, he tended to analyse situations similar to him.

"Yup, not much though. As long as they aren't blowing up the planet, my interest is minor. Although hearing that you grounded Roger's did make me chuckle."

T'Challa chuckled at that as well, Shuri hadn't sent him the video clips but she had told him about it. It had taken nearly 10 minutes to tell him because she was doubled over laughing the whole time trying to catch her breath.

" Yes, well, he didn't give me much choice when I was trying to get the truth on Siberia. He was flustered enough his lies were easy to catch."

Tony sighed because he knew exactly where this conversation was going.

"Go on. Ask."

"I have bits of there side, I was wondering if you'd tell me your side?"

"Did Shuri put you up to this?"

"Well. Partially. She thought you might prefer talking to me than her, she ranted about people trying to protect her if I remember correctly.."

"I've been trying not to dump it on her. Anytime I let something slip she looked so.. Pained."

"I understand that, but she's also putting things together in her own mind."

Tony dropped onto one of his stools and kicked one over to the King who sat opposite him. He idly noticed that his guards had not actually followed him into the lab. Which was a shocking display of trust in him. In his workshop, he had any number of things to hand. His sighed and decided that if T'Challa was doing this to him, he was going to dump a dilemma on him in return.

He wanted to tell Shuri about his abilities. She was one of 'his' kids now and it felt awful lying to them. Every time he picked up his sunglasses to chat with her, he was reminded of the look on Shaylo's face when he kept his glasses on. Or the looks Laura's kids used to give him when he wore sunglasses to dinner. It was worse than the adults. He just hadn't expected Shuri to become one of 'his' kids.

"OK Meowthra. If we're doing this, you can help me with a dilemma I'm having."

T'Challa simply nodded, looking calm and collected, the only thing that gave him away was his colours. He wanted to know what had happened to Tony in Siberia, it was buzzing all around him, eating him up for some reason he didn't quite understand, he wondered if this had anything to do with his weird crusade to make him look good. At the same time, he seemed nervous to _finally_ know. He suspected Shuri wasn't the only one who had been trying to put the pieces together. Rogers, and probably Barnes, for all the information they could give the royals, they didn't know what happened in that stretched out time he spent alone and cold on the freezing concrete floor of that Hydra base. Thanks to Natka, there was _no _evidence there. Also, he might of had the base scorched of the map… if anyone went back. They'd just find a crater. _Literally_.

"You know I fought with Barnes and Roger's right? I just don't want to have to repeat things you already know."

"Yes, I know the three of you fought, and the video that instigated the fight."

That was at least something he didn't be to describe, T'Challa looked sheepish for knowing, Tony was just happy he didn't have to describe that video again.

"Good, anything else?"

"My sister said you were left and you were grievously injured. She also wondered about the project you started at the hospital."

Tony rolled his eyes. Should of known really. He was a bit blind to think Shuri would believe that he just had an idea.

"Should have known. I spent a bit of time enjoying Siberia before Vision found me, when they brought me back I went into a coma, so they couldn't really ask me what I wanted to happen."

Tony shrugged at the Kings wince, it was something he had come to terms with now. He could look at himself in the mirror most of the time now without seeing something less than human. He figured the handy therapist could help him deal with the rest, or something, he still wasn't sure about this therapy jazz. He didn't have any resentment to Rhodey, he had originally, but then he'd Seen him and it just shattered. He rolled up his sleeve past his elbow and T'Challa zeroed in on the ring of scars that suddenly ended where the skin sleeve started, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. Tony tapped the disk this time, instead of using his mind and watched his face as it receded. Leaving the matt black hand he'd probably seen if Shuri and he had been discussing him. The only difference being Harleys silver decals. T'Challa looked visibly pained and Tony wished he didn't have to do this. The man was a king but he was also young. So freaking young.

He also carried a metric tonne of blame for what happened to him apparently. Something Tony had not been expecting at all and really didn't quite understand why. Underneath that was a simmering rage, kept under a tight hold. But it was like boiling water in a pan, bubbling and just trying to spill over the edge. The king was not happy with Roger's, he could practically feel the heat of his rage. From what he could work out, he felt like Roger's had tricked him into a great betrayal. Of Tony, but also of himself. He got a sense that T'Challa felt there was a debt caused by his actions and Tony had no idea how to tell him there wasn't. The man had been lost in grief, he understood that.

"So, you...ost you hand?"

"Yeah, best case scenario, and T'Challa. This, all of this, was not your fault."

"If I had been less wrapped up in my revenge, if I had walked into that base to see you with my own two eyes.."

"You had very understandable circumstances."

He could see that although his words had made him feel better, it hadn't changed anything. He decided to go with a new tactic.

"Anyway, like I said, this was good. Rhodey and Cho tried everything and none of it worked, except an experimental version on Extremis I had worked on."

"I remember reports of Extremis, it could regenerate dead and missing limbs, but was extremely unstable."

"One thing that actually made it more stable was cutting out that part, hence the requirement of a cybernetic hand. As long as there was some live tissue for it work with, it healed practically all of the frostbite."

"Except your hand. How much damage was there, how lon-"

Tony could see the man was heading down a guilt spiral, was holding himself at fault for every injury he could conceive of. Tony decided to stall that and took his glasses off, which definitely succeeding in stopping him, and it distracted him from questions he didn't want to answer.

"Your eye?"

"Frostbite."

T'Challa winced again and the only reason Tony didn't, probably because he'd gotten sort of used to telling this story now, it was like reading a script. He still didn't _like_ talking about frostbite, it was a word he'd love to scrub from his mind, even thinking it chilled him and triggered phantom twinges in his hands, made his eyes ache. Weirdly, his back was twinging this time, but it felt internal, like when he'd fractured a vertebrae once. It was only a small ache and easily pushed away, probably just stiff from sitting so long working. Whilst he didn't carry the same chronic pain he had for years, he was still good at managing, well, ignoring, pain. It was probably nothing, only noticed because of his lack of pain or something.

"There wasn't enough left for Extremis to heal and something.. Odd happened."

"That is why you've been wearing sunglasses so much? Me and Shuri were worried you had been blinded."

"No, well, I _had_, but all healed up. Can see better than ever, my eyesight is quite enhanced now. But this eye."

He tapped his temple next to his left eye, he knew it was quite shocking at first. Hell, it took him ages to adapt to it and it was in his face. He hadn't even gotten around to showing Reed either, caught up on the technopathic abilities.

"I can see.. More. Things that get uncomfortably close to magic for my liking. It seems Extremis found traces of the element I'd created in my blood, left over from my years with the arc reactor in my chest. This, was the result."

He was monitoring the King's colours as he sat trying to process everything he'd told him.

" That is quite the change.. "

" And now we have my dilemma."

"You mean how we are going to make it look like you told Shuri this first before she eviscerates us with her vibranium claws?"

He couldn't help but laugh at that, because yes, that was part of it.

"Well yes, that's part of it. There are two other parts."

He grabbed the wipes he kept in the workshop for getting grease off his slim, they worked well on makeup too.

"Oh Bast. I don't know if I want to know."

He scrubbed at his face whilst chuckling because he definitely understood.

"I've wanted to tell her for a while, but I didn't want to do it on the phone and she won't be visiting for a while."

"And you want to avoid Wakanda because of the rogues? I assure you if you visited and you are most welcome to, we will organise it so they don't see y- Wha?!"

Tony grinned as T'Challa got a look at him without makeup on to make him look older.

"Before you invite me there is one other thing."

"Apart from the fact you now look to be my age?"

Tony didn't answer but instead tilted his head slightly to the side and loaded up all the holoscreens around him that had idled during their chat, making the Kings eyes widen.

"That's not even all of it."

He flicked his fingers towards the Kings wrist where he could sense his beads and just sent him a simple hello message. It took a second before it dawned on him, that not only was his he technopathic, he was compatible with Wakandan tech.

"You are technopathic?"

"Basically."

"So _that's_ why there were no control nodes in your cybernetic hand, Shuri is going to punch you over that."

"Yeah, I thought she would. Also because I've been working on the integration so long.."

"You can access our tech as surely as your own, yes?"

"It's like being bilingual. It's different to what my mind uses or is used to, but I can speak it."

He'd also used their non binary systems to add another firewall in his mind after Stephy had cleared his mind, he didn't want to ever repeat that, so if somehow, someone made it through his walls, he suspected having a non binary firewall would stump people.

" Now you see my dilemma. "

" Telling Shuri is the bigger dilemma. We trust you Dr Stark."

Tony just gaped, which T'Challa found quite amusing it seemed.

Fury had described Tony as a walking security breach on more than one occasion, now he _really_ was, yet the Wakandans would be just fine with him wandering into their country? Not that he'd go rooting through their systems, he had to much respect for the siblings to do that. It wasn't like SHIELD. But he had expected that they'd be wary of his abilities and his reputation.

"You realise I can access pretty much anything tech related right? Wirelessly."

"Dr Stark.."

"I think by now you can call me Tony?"

He said, hopefully. These days getting people to call him tony was like getting blood from a stone. Several stones. Several very stubborn stones.

"Tony.."

Tony gaped again. That had been way to easy, T'Challa just smirked at him. Tony rolled his eyes and stopped interrupting.

"You have been deep in our system with Shuri integrating Wakanda with the rest of the world, have you not?"

"Well yeah, I can work faster with my mind than my hands."

"And from Shuri's lab, you could likely have accessed more of Wakanda?"

"Yeah..?"

"Yet instead you have been working tirelessly, Shuri has shown me how many hours you've logged working on the integration along, let along Barnes algorithms."

"I've not been on that much."

The king merely raised an eyebrow and Tony found himself flushing slightly. Damn he was as bad as Rhodey.

"Hmm, so, you have used your abilities and a considerable amount of effort to help not only Wakanda, just because my sister mentioned _once_ that integrating our systems with the binary ones was proving difficult, but you've also used those abilities to help someone no one would ever expect you to. "

Tony rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't sure what to do with this. T'Challa was making more of it that it was. Of course he was helping Barnes, it was the least he could do for attacking him. It didn't mean much, he just wanted to destroy those words controlling him. So no one could use the Barnes again to kill, so no one would be left in his position, mourning family when the killer was just as much an unwilling victim. It was purely selfish really. At least that's what he was telling himself, his therapist had just smirked at him and moved to a new topic when he'd said that.

"Oh course I'd help Shuri and Wakanda with code integration. You have enough trouble integrating a country into the world in 2016, it's the least I could do. It's not a big deal."

"Well it is to us, Shuri also is happy to be someone in her level to talk to."

"Well I wouldn't say that either, she is clearly more intelligent."

T'Challa was now definitely giving him a patented Rhodey glare.

"She also had the benefit of the best tutors and generations of study with vibranium. When it came to the integration she was unsure where to even start. She's quite enamoured with your coding too."

Tony wasn't sure when this conversation had gotten away from him. It was happening a lot lately and he didn't know what to do with it, people thanking him for things he would have done anyway seemed weird and unnecessary.

"Back to what I was saying, you could have done a lot with the access granted to you. What you chose to do was work to benefit Wakanda and her people. If you came to Wakanda would that suddenly change?"

"Of course not."

"Well there we go then. At some point when you are free and feel safe to travel, I'm assuming your secluded yourself to gain control of your abilities?"

Not much else he could do other than nod.

"When you feel able you can visit, you can tell Shuri and I'll look suitably shocked."

"OK. Well that sounds.. Easy?"

"Oh, she's still going to be mad."

"I fully expected that."

They both chuckle as Peter chooses that moment to skid into the workshop.

"Mr Stark! Did you know there are Wakandans in the ha-eeek"

Peter stopped, gaping slightly at T'Challa, even though the two had met back in Germany, even if it had been suited and briefly at that. Tony just grinned at watched Peter gape. After all of his confusion in this conversation, it was a nice break.

"Yeah Pete, I'd noticed."

Harley came in a few seconds behind the now frozen Peter, he couldn't hear Tara so he assumed she'd stuck around with Lilah and Cassie. The two girls had taken it very seriously to introduce Cassie to compound life, it was adorable. Harley chucked his bag as it skidded and landed under his desk with practiced easy he glanced at Tony, then T'Challa and finally Peter. Rolling his eyes at Peter and leveled a typical Harley glare at T'Challa. Oh he knew what was coming next.

"Harley, everything is fine, Meowthra here was coming to check up on me."

"If he hadn't abandoned ya in Siberia, he wouldn't have to check up on you now would he?"

Tony just face palmed as Harley dropped himself down at his desk, utterly unphased. That seemed to unstick Peter, who now looked between T'Challa and Harley in mild fascination, or horror. He couldn't tell.

Where as Harley had zero compunction about being rude to _anyone_, especially if he thought they had contributed to Tony's pain. Peter had a need to be nice, it wasn't even an intentional thing. He was just that good of a person that he naturally spread it around. On more than one occasion he and Harley had been left slightly stunned by it, especially when Peter aimed it at them, neither he nor Harley were sure why it was happening to them...

He just shrugged at T'Challa, who didn't seem to be taking offence at Harley's standoffish nature. Which was handy, because that would have made it worse. Peter finally seemed to unstick at that.

"King T'Challa, I hope you're enjoying the compound."

"From what I've seen it's quite amazing."

"Well I'll take that as a compliment as all you've seen is my workshop. Anyway boys, do you have much work?"

Both of them sort of shrugged and shook their heads which could mean pretty much anything under the sun.

"I figure we give Shuri a call, I'm due to call her about todays update and then we'll go and have lunch?"

"As long as I get to choose where we order from this week, Peter chose last week."

"Sure Harls, if you can be nice to Meowthra we can order from whatever restaurant you want."

He'd be lying if the look of distaste that crossed Harley's face, warring with getting to choose food wasn't amusing. T'Challa just smiled agreeably, he wasn't sure if that would work in the King's favour or not. It was hard to tell with Harley. In the end he sighed.

"Fine. I'll be nice, but I don't forgive him."

"If it helps, I feel terrible for my part in how things turn out and am indebted to Dr Stark for leaving an ally behind."

Harley seemed to weigh his words, before nodding and smiling somewhat.

Tony and Peter sighed in relief.

"Have you told Shuri yet?"

Ah great, now he had the Harley glare leveled at him.

"Not yet, figure it's a face to face kind of thing."

"Yeah Mechanic. That's going to work out well for you."

Harley was now way too amused. He walked over to him and cuffed him over the back of the head, just getting a wide, utterly unrepentant grin in return. Peter just rolled his eyes.

"I know, I'll bring her presents, that'll help right Meowthra?"

"I'm sure it will help."

He didn't sound _remotely_ convincing.


	17. Chapter 17 - We Don't Use That Word!

**Chapter 17**

**We don't use the R Word**

**Tony POV**

_**7th October **_

Before he gets a chance to call Shuri, she calls them while he was still helping Harley sort out his homework.

"Meowthra, mind getting that, it's your sister, I'll be a minute."

At the Kings nod he flicked his hand towards the screen as T'Challa rolls his seat from where Peter had been showing off pretty much _everything_ he had been working on. He had to give it to the King, he looked just as interested on the 12th thing as he had on the first.

"You're not Tony."

"What delightful greetings I get from my sister."

"Ha ha brother, I just did not expect to find you in Tony's worksh- Peter!"

"Hi Shuri!"

Peter hopped up, grinning and waving, he slipped on his sunglasses before he turned around as he knew the camera covered part of Harley's desk at least. He and Harley came into frame.

"Hey Shuri, workshop isn't always so busy."

"Why does she never smile at me like this? Charming sister, utterly charming."

Tony just grinned at the king.

"Your brother was going to give you a ring to say he made it here okay. He's just being accosted by Underoos here."

"Well I hope you're having fun brother. Abandoning me with the pests you invited over!"

Tony decides it is best to keep silent on that, because Shuri is rather terrifying when she wants to be and he actually does have some sense of self preservation. Somewhere. Really. It's just hard to locate..

"Next time you can come over Kit-Kat, the rest of my hoard would love to have you over. Today council meeting was cancelled so he figured why not pop over!"

"Yes, I have some kind of interview tomorrow about how Wakanda is integrating with the world, so we thought we'd stop here and then go to the hotel."

"You sound utterly thrilled about that."

Tony grinned, when it wasn't him going on talk shows or interviews it was hilarious.

"Tony! That's a great idea."

"Huh, What now?"

"You can go on the show with my brother."

Tony blinked for a second and ran the conversation through his head and wasn't sure where that had even come up. T'Challa however now had hopeful face on.

"Okay, fine, I'll crash your interview. Now, what were you after Shuri?"

"Huh, Oh! I was just calling to tell you the next data packets are slowly making their way to you. It'll take a few hours."

Shuri looked slightly grumpy about how long it was going to take and he figured he'd push his surprise early for her. There was still some work to do tomorrow, he assumed after his impromptu interview invasion. But he was very close.

" Wait a second before you send, I have a surprise."

He dropped off the camera then because it would take an annoyingly long to type this. He started pushing the updates he had stacked for the integration. It should cut a considerable amount of time off the transfer, hopefully. He was very close to creating a line where sure could work as seamlessly in his servers as she could back at home and the same for him. He closed his eyes, just because it was easier, and felt everything settling into place and only had a few bug reports ping back at him. Which was impressive really and he'd work on them later. When he was done he slipped back into the camera where Shuri's hands were dancing across her screens excitedly.

"Better?"

"Oh yeah, you'll get everything much faster now."

T'Challa was looking over what he and Shuri had built as well as the two teens.

"I'll be able to finish everything up my end, then all you have to do is push your last changes and I think it might be done."

"Done? As if you and my sister will actually stop working on it?"

"Well, mostly?"

Shuri just laughed and didn't stand up for him at all, typically.

"OK, I'm going to herd this lot off for dinner. Bye Kit-Kat."

"Have fun, I might have some too.."

Whilst everyone was waving goodbye to Shuri he and FRIDAY set things up to open several of the guests rooms for T'Challa and the Dora. He missed the amused smirk she shot, but he knew that tone of voice. She was definitely up to something, he wondered if he should feel bad about being highly amused at the fact. Na.

Whoever the unlucky person was, they probably deserved it.

It simply made more sense for them all to crash here rather than running off to a hotel, there were guest rooms for precisely this occasion. It wasn't until hours later that he realised that he had left the sleeve off of his hand. Well, that was one way to tell the teen. He figured he'd get a lecture later when she'd gotten used to the idea.

Whilst everyone was scattering after dinner he pulled T'Challa to one side. He hadn't wanted to dump this on the young King. But he had to know. It was amazing that they'd kept everything away from the press for so long, but there was a chance that maybe X one day, a family member might get angry enough. Plus, he had Wanda in his country. He passed the file over and watched the dawning horror on the man's face.

"I didn't want to just dump this over to you, but you need to know what she's capable of when she feels trapped. Don't… don't make any big moves without contacting me first. "

"Of course, I did not realise she was such a threat."

"I've got someone working on it, as long as you don't try to separate her or contain her from the others, just keep her in the holding pattern."

The king nodded and carried on reading through the file. Of the people who died during the escape from the raft. Of the ones who took their lives in the days following.

" This is why you warned Shuri off of her, isn't it. "

He nodded, he'd wanted to tell them about this file the second he learned of it, but was worried it would result in more deaths. He knew from Shuri what was going on. As long as Wanda believed herself to be at a position of power and strength he doubted something like the raft would happen again. He didn't want to risk them going after her until Stephy had finished his Magic necklaces. No. He wasn't going to call them amulets or talismans. They were magic necklaces.

"Now Thunderbritches is gone, this might come out. I don't know, many of the guard were loyal to him. For whatever reason he wanted it quiet and it stayed that way. Now however…"

"I understand."

**Tony POV**

_**8th October**_

Waking up was definitely a good thing some mornings, his nightmares had definitely changed since Stephy had been rooted around in his brain but it hadn't out right stopped his nightmares.

Tonight has been the fun one of being trapped in the suit again, but he could at least move his hands. The manual catches on the suit however were frozen shut with blood and ice. So, not exactly the nicest twist he'd experienced, but also not one of the worst nightmares.

So far only Stephy knew that the witch had left crap in his head, well, Wong too, but Wong wouldn't tell Rhodey on him. He knew that if he didn't tell Rhodey or Carol at some point Stephy would step up his pointed glares to out right tattling.

But that was Tomorrow-Tony's problem. As was "The Talk" with Carol. Oh, and finally introducing Tiny Thor and Goose like some bonkers parents introducing their children, but in this instance one child could actually eat the other. What had his life become lately? He needed to work on that Accords contract for Deadpool. Trying to sanitise people like Wade, Nathan and Eddie was going to be _so much_ fun.

Glancing down he realised he'd actually drifted to sleep holding his tablet, Extremis was helping his shake off the last bits of sleep but he could not remember what he had been working on.

Ah. That was it, same thing he'd been working on every night since he got that sodding letter from Barnes and had been doubled down by the guy giving him permission to be more involved with his treatment. He was trying to… respond? He was originally just going to sort of ignore it, not maliciously but because he didn't know what to reply with!

When SuperSecretProject.2 was launched there were fundamental parameters.

1 - Don't tell anyone

That was pretty much it really.

Rhodey was still unimpressed with him and Rhodey didn't even know how much of his time he had actually devoted to the problem with Barnes and his infuriatingly interesting brain. Shuri and T'Challa where meant to be it. Barnes had somehow gone and got past his security measures and then he'd unintentionally told Rhodey.

He had thought Barnes knowing he was involved would had ended the project really.

He wasn't entirely sure how the man had gotten Rogers to go along with it, in fact he was pretty much waiting everytime Shuri called that he'd changed his mind and was stopping treatment altogether. Which considering before he came along with BARF, their treatment plan had been to sit in cryo and hope something came a long. He didn't want that for the man.

He already had the scope of the adaptive programme and was actually quite confident in how it was going to work. He still had no idea precisely what it was about Barnes brain that was causing so many problems but he could see how it was working now. It gave him an edge.

He was more stuck on sending a response to the man than writing a never before imagined adaptive programme based on a rather impossible brain. If that didn't say something about him, he didn't know what did.

A few drafts that he'd scrapped in the early hours were just him talking about the man's brain and the program. Which would be extremely weird thing to say to a.. Person. What even was Barnes to him, a person who killed his parents but kind of didn't? Person who was involved in a bunker rattling fight? Frozen dude whose brain I'm helping to fix? Person who hasn't realised what century we are in and is still sending snail mail? Person who Rogers nearly broke the world for?

Guy who gave him level 4 access to data on the glasses. He had even made sure that Barnes read what that meant and he'd actually read everything according to the glasses.

So add that to the list.

The man actually reads full terms and conditions.

Maybe he was just looking at it from his overly paranoid self, sure he wouldn't let any other doctor bar Dr Cho or Dr Wu within a mile of his chest. It had taken a lot of persuading for him to even allow her to talk to a cardiologist too. Before Siberia and Extremis he been having progressively more heart problems, the shrapnel hadn't been the big bad in the end, it had been the car battery. When it sparked it had caused damage all over the place, nastily his pacemaker cells took quite a hit. So even when he was suffering with erratic arrhythmia pretty much daily, he had still been resistant about letting a different doctor near him.

And the doctor was highly qualified and submitted to as many searches into his history as Tony wanted. Signed non disclosures, jumped through Tony impressive array of hoops. He had still considered saying no, even after that.

Barnes.. He had just handed over nearly everything the glasses collected barring the memory videos themselves. To him. The last time they'd seen each other had been.. Bad. Yet somehow the Winter Soldier had less trust issues than him. Huh.

In the meantime, the guy would have Clint and Wanda listing everything he had ever done wrong, and knowing those two, alluding to many other things that he had nothing to do with. If Wanda hadn't called him Merchant of Death he'd be stunned. He didn't know about Roger's, after Ultron there had been sharp comments from pretty much everyone and the friendship he had with the man had deteriorated at a rapid pace, but they'd hung on in places. He didn't know what Rogers would pass on. Definitely that he was not trustworthy. If he'd thought he was trustworthy then the man would have told him before Zemo got his chance.

As for Wilson and Lang, it was hard to get a read on them. Wilson seemed okay, he just had Rogers sized blinders. The amount of great ideas he had for the team that he didn't fight for was _maddening_. Rogers said no and he'd immediately drop it. As for Lang, maybe if Hank hadn't gotten there first, maybe they could have gotten along. If anything he found his track record highly amusing. But Hank had his very strict 'Hate all Starks' rule. "Never Trust a Stark" from the man who had been trying, constantly, as far back as Tony could remember, trying to steal his tech. He had a few warehouses set up specifically for Hank to break in with tech that was fundamentally flawed. Hope had found that hilarious.

Lang had utterly bought the kool aid however, so he suspected that he would have let Barnes know the gospel of Hank.

So, a logical reaction to finding out the person who made the tech and algorithms that are messing with your brain is actually this evil, death dealing, untrustworthy rich guy is _not_ to send a thankyou letter.

That he and Sam had been researching him? What was it "in a completely not stalkerish way"?

Nice to put that in as a qualifier really.

Not sure whether he should mention that he's been dealing with the press and stalkers since he could walk. Again the interesting part was that Sam was researching him? He'd actually lived with Sam, the man had shown very little interest and a propensity to believe everything people told him.

Tony wonders what magical research this is, really. Or is Barnes magical?

Also he's not even sure _how_ to reply. He really didn't want to write a letter. Anything he sent digitally would have to go through Shuri. Which means she would analyse anything he said, come to utterly incorrect conclusions and then torment him with them for ages.

Dammit. He was going to have to write something. On paper. He glanced around his room and found what he was looking for. He kept a notepad for sketches, either engineering or otherwise. It was the only time he really used paper. After nearly scrapping yet another reply he figured he was thinking about this way too much and just wrote what came to mind before slipping it into an envelope. He figured he'd pass it on the T'Challa when he was about to leave. He's not sure when he turned into an awkward teenager with a pen pal, but he was not fond of it.

"FRIDAY, ask if Stephy is free?"

"Sure thing Boss."

Tony pulled out some clothes he could wear to the interview when his senses were suddenly blasted with gold.

"Ahhhh!"

"Yes?"

"Stephanie damn. Warning next time!"

"You contacted me?"

"Yes, to see if you were free, not for you to give me a heart attack."

Stephy seemed utterly unphased and started snooping around his room whilst looking unamused at the same time.

"Well. I'm free until breakfast."

Tony added up the time in his head and figured it was enough time.

"Yeah, that should do it. What if I just so happened to have videos of the rogues reactions to the Accords Council visit and the Press Conference?"

"Well, now you see, that would be tricky. As I'm sure if you knew where the international fugitives were, you would have told me. Anthony."

Now he was glaring. And calling him Anthony. Yikes.

Well, at least he's not snooping anymore?

"They're contained, it's fine. I was sent the videos and I've been avoiding watching them, so I figure I could send them t-"

"FRIDAY. Play the first video."

Stephy just glared at him, daring him to protest, but he knew that look so he just flopped down onto the bed as the TV flicked on. Because apparently even FRIDAY obeyed Stephen over him.

"The idea was you watch them, then you tell me _if_ I need to watch it."

Sam's voice came across as Stephy sent him another withering glare.

_*"Urm, before we watch the film, I thought you guys should see this.." _

_Barnes started signing at him almost immediately. _

_Bad idea! Bad idea!*_

Huh. Okay, had Barnes already seen the video before this? Why is he signing?

_*"What the fuck is this Wilson?" _

_"It's a video from an Accords Council session."*_

Wanda's magic lashed out and he managed to repress the flinch seeing it. Even over video it apparently had some affect. Stephy looked so unimpressed it was actually amusing, it made seeing the Witch less nerve racking.

"Is she just vomiting energy into the room?"

"She used to do that a lot."

Stephy sneers and returns his unamused glared back to the screen.

_*"And why would we want to see anything about that?" _

_"Because Steve wanted updates on Stark and Barton wanted updates on his wife." *_

Why the hell did Rogers want updates on him?

Before he could think about that much, the him on the TV entered the room and started talking at the podium. Hilariously they all shut up when he started talking. That was a first.

Wanda however was making gagging sounds, Clint was just scowling at the TV, probably because of Laura. Barnes looked a lot better than he'd last seen him. But that wasn't really difficult, out of everyone he looked like he was watching the rogues more than the video. He had the look of someone waiting for chaos.

He also noticed how everyone was very.. spread out. Barnes and Lang tucked away on one side, Wilson in between them and Rogers, almost sat alone. Wanda and Clint squished into one seat on the other side of the room.

*"_I can't believe he is still working for Ross and these ridiculous Accords. We aren't even there for them to use against us, I was hoping that they'd -" _

_"Of course he's working with that slime bag, you told me he was compromised, Stark never admits he's wrong and now he's dragged my wife down with him… She barely even looks like-" _

_"He's probably been living it up with him this whole time and violations? His prison was a violation." *_

So Rogers thought he was working with Ross, that the Accords would vanish without them, Clint thought he'd dragged Laura into this and Wanda thought he built the raft.

"Well, I knew their opinions were low.."

"How did you work with these people?"

Tony shrugged, this was pretty much why he didn't want to watch these videos. He knew what they'd say to his face after all. What they'd say behind his back?

He also realised that the other three didn't dog pile on with the insults.

_*"Wonder why he's on medical leave, he looks okay?"*_

"That answers one question. The dear Captain didn't tell his troops what he did to you after all."

He would have responded to Stephy but he had been drawn to Barnes signing again.

_*Watch his hands.*_

What did he do with his hands?

He didn't remember doing anything with his hands.

Clint scoffing about the data dump didn't shock him really, he still never understood why Clint had been fine with it. Out of everyone else he knew what it meant for over a thousand agents and their families. The only reason he was safe was because Laura was not in any documentation. Not that that had saved her in the end.

_*"So when he does it it's fine, When Nat does it he goes into a snit!" _

_"Who cares what he's saying anyway! It's just Stark rambling on, he just enjoys the sound of his own voice."*_

He was not at all shocked that Clint didn't respond well to being told to be quiet. The man was just running on rage these days from how Shuri tells it. He watched himself talking about the human rights violations and found himself watching his own hands without meaning to. Dammit.

_*" Considering what happened to me on the raft, he should be reporting himself "_

_*" Be quiet everyone, this seems very serious and like something we should be invested in. "*_

He couldn't not laugh, Stephy even smirked at that. Yes, it was something they should have been involved in. If they had stayed and behaved, the Accords would have been much easier to handle and Ross would have been in jail earlier.

_*" What the fuck does he mean 'cleaning up after the Avengers' "_

_" Probably throwing his money around. "_

_" Stark did tell me once about charities he'd set up to help people who were hurt by our… What? "*_

"What, did they think cities they helped destroy magically rebuilt themselves without you?"

"I don't think they really thought of it, Sam did actually show interest in the charities however once when I was organising a fundraiser."

_*" What the fuck were we supposed to do? Let aliens take over to save some property damage? "_

_" Wait, wait, I think he's talking about us..? "*_

Scott's managed to derail that potential argument, the split in the room was even more apparent, he wished he could find himself enjoying it. Instead it made his chest hurt, the scar from the shield feeling tight.

_*" I thought Stark put us in that jail? "_

_" He did! "*_

They actually thought it was him who built the raft and detained him? It left him feeling slightly dissociated that Wanda screech and Stephy subsequent hiss of recklessness and lack of magical control barely registered to him.

_*"That.. That's a lot of countries." *_

"That's Cassie's father isn't it? Did he not look into the records before fighting then?"

"Rogers told him to jump, he did."

He just shrugged and tried to force himself to pay attention, just in time for Wanda's response to him allowing the Accords to classify him as a super.

_*"He can make anything about himself. "*_

Rogers did nothing to curtail her. Wilson looked confused, Barnes looked utterly unimpressed with the Witch, not that he blamed him. Barnes nodded to Wilson and he realised that on the video one of his hands was crippling the edge of the podium. He didn't even remember doing that, how in the hell had Barnes noticed?

When Laura took over he knew Clint was going to yell thinking back on what she said.

_*"WHAT?!"_

_"Oh my god, this isn't happening, she can't do that! Not with me here! What about the kids?!" *_

Stephy was wildly smiling now, but that wasn't surprising. The doctor wouldn't admit it, but he didn't hate Laura. He even got on with Cooper. He was abjectly terrified of Lilah and 'Watching Stephy panic when he was handed Nate' is a folder full of gifs on his server

_*" Dammit I should have been there! "*_

That would have been sensible really, the man had been **retired**. There was no reason for Rogers to have pulled him in. He'd gone to Peter instead of going near Clint. No reason for him to have said yes. Looking at him and Wanda now however, he wondered if he came running for her rather than Rogers?

Clint started angrily pacing and he was sure of it, Barnes was smiling. Which was confusing, he'd expected them all to be best pals. The rest of the video was watched in relative silence, with Clint storming off at the end. Wilson and Barnes signed again, subtly out of sight of anyone else but now of the cameras.

_*You could have warned me! _

_I told you it would be a bad idea.*_

As Barnes slunk off and the video cut he chanced a glance at Stephy.

"So, is this why you've been in touch with Wakanda so much?"

He was pretty impressed that the sorcerer worked out where it was based on the decor.

"No, me and Shuri have been working on integration and other things."

It really didn't help the feeling that he was in the principal's office with Stephy looming over him like a giant.

"Tony. Tell me what else."

He rolled his eyes, damn sorcerers and their damned perceptiveness. And for knowing him so well.

"Well, I sent BARF to help Barnes as then had him on ice. Its turning out to be a bit trickier than we thought so I'm directly involved."

"Does he know?"

"Shockingly? Yes and he is weirdly fine with it. Stephanie, I mean insanely _trusting_ levels of fine. I'm weirded out."

He doesn't say anything but he has that look on his face when he's thinking things through.

"Right. FRIDAY, next video please."

Next time, go to Carol. Sod potential painful discussions. 'Carol wouldn't make me watch confusing videos.' He thinks to himself as FRIDAY lines up the next video, again, without asking him.

"FRIDAY, at least, I don't know, speed through the bits we've talking?"

Might make it go quicker maybe? It was Wilson that started the video again.

_*"Ah guys.." _

_"Oh fuck you if you have any more bad news." _

_"Well, it's just Stark has done a press conference." _

_"Oh play it, maybe he mentions our pardons." *_

Stephy barked out a full laugh and Tony found himself staring at Rogers in utter confusion. Why the hell would Rogers think he was getting them Pardons? If they thought that, why were they still insulting him left right and centre? Clint and Wanda were literally muttering about how awful he was at the same moment!

The video sped up as he started talking but it slowed down pretty much as soon as it had started when Rogers, Clint and Wanda screeched.

_*"NEW AVENGERS?!" *_

"What, did they think I'd just sit around waiting for them?"

He was actually veering towards irritated instead of hurt and insulted now as the video sped up again, Clint jumped in, again. As per usual, the angry archer couldn't seem to stay quiet. It used to be quips and jokes but lately it was just anger. Any friendship they might have had once had apparently died with Ultron, along with pretty much all of his decent personality traits.

_*"What, have they just got the Avengers doing any old job now."_

_"I know, if they're bogged down with things like this how could they possibly get ready for serious problems." *_

"Hmm, I had wondered why the old Avengers had not operated as they do now. I had thought it was primarily Carol's influence, but it isn't is it?"

"Well, no. Its something I've done for a while, home threats, terrorism and helping when requested. It wasn't something the Avengers were designed for. The Angry Pirate was doing it in his secrety secret ways. Saving people from wildfires didn't warrant assembling. "

Handy thing about being a consultant, SHIELD never had much power to order him around, especially not to order him not to help with domestic threats.

Their reactions to Shay was good, he was still angry at Rogers for that. Much more than he let on too, kissing and then abandoning his cousin to the fall out of his actions? He was possibly more pissed at that than he was about Rogers nearly killing him.

_*"I didn't know Sharon even knew Stark.. That means Peggy.." *_

"Yup, if he had stayed and married Peggy, he'd likely have been my God Father or something."

He shuddered at that and Stephy looked like he'd bitten a lemon.

"Small mercies I suppose."

_*"That's actually impressive, that they have Captain Danvers._

_"She was on Hydras watch list, known associate of Fury. I don't know how much about her abilities is true.. But she is powerful." *_

Tony had been expecting Barnes to sign again, so hearing his voice startled him slightly. He sounded different from when he was in Siberia, there was a definite Russian undertone in his voice that made it interesting. He blinked that thought away, he'd have to tell Carol that Hydra were scared of her, she'd get a kick out of that.

_*"Fury mentioned her, it's where he came up with the idea for the Avengers, I get why she's leading but why Rhodes? He's obviously disabled."*_

Tony was close to hurting Clint over what he said at the raft. The way he said disabled, it was a complete sneer and Tony knew the only reason he didn't use an ableist slur was because Rogers would probably scold him,

Tony heard what he meant anyway. Yeah. He was showing this to Laura, she already knew where the rogues were so it wouldn't be hard to explain. There weren't many people that just accepted things like Stephy did.

Speaking of the sorcerer, he was smirking at Wanda's reaction to him.

"I bet Hydra told her about you."

"Quite, she looks utterly terrified doesn't she. But notice that she isn't telling her pals. Not wanting to bring up her Hydra connections maybe?"

"Don't know why not, Steve spouts her amazing change of heart and her hero story enough."

"But I wonder if the dear Captain has told his tortured friend that?"

Huh. Interesting, but Rogers surely wouldn't do that.

_*"He was on SHIELDS watch list. He used to be some hot shot surgeon, got into a car crash, vanished and returned as someone with unknown, off the charts levels of power." *_

"Lovely to know SHIELD were watching me.."

"I altered all their reports on you."

He smirked at the smile Stephy shot him, everytime they thought they got an idea about his powers he edited everything. He had bugs placed in SHIELDs systems to alert him if his _friends_ were ever targeted. It had been fun. Considering the company he tended to keep and the kind of people SHIELD listed after was basically a circular Venn diagram. Some people covered their own tracks, DP was a pain.

_*"I still can't believe it, Hope man.. Her dad despised all Stark's.. "_ *

Scott's reaction to him introducing Hope onto stages wasn't exactly a shock. He did want to correct him. Hank hated Howard. It had nothing to do with him. He was a sodding kid when they'd started their feud.

_*"What are you doing Tony? You already have a team, surely getting us pardons would be much easier than inviting all these.. strange people in without talking about it." *_

Tony just stared, Rogers reaction as the Defenders walked onto stage was staggering. Did he think he would just invite them back and return everything to exactly how they'd been before? Annoyingly, If they'd come back in the first week or two after the coma, he might have even done it.

His new abilities, then having Harley and Tara? It made him _reassess_.

He looked back at how things had been and realised that he didn't want _his_ kids to deal with that, so he'd set about building a new team. With the hopes it would been everything he'd wished the Avengers would be when he invited them to live in the tower.

Nat caught everyone's attention, but that wasn't a surprise. Barnes leaning ever so slightly closer, his attention sharpening and face blanking was interesting. There was definitely something there.

_*"Maybe she went to Stark so she could keep us updated on things at the compound, but couldn't because of the probation?" _

_"Yeah, she's playing double agent. She's not really with Stark."*_

If he hadn't seen Nats colours, that comment probably would have torn him up inside. Would have wrecked anything he'd slowly built with her… but then without his abilities, he doubted he'd have let her back at all.

"I don't think.. Wilson? Wilson believes that. I think he was trying to avoid a large argument."

"Probably, it's actually kind of weird for me to see people like this, no colours, so it's like I'm missing information."

Weirdly thought, it had made him better at reading people in general. It was nice, as he'd never been overly good at reading people before.

_*" Why didn't we do this? "_

_"Stark handled PR."_

_"We had more important things to be doing than pandering to the press like this." *_

If he'd known Wilson was interested in PR of the Avengers he would of happily involved him in it. Would have been nice to have another person to share the load with. Rogers and Clints comments did not shock him. Both of them assumed that he could fix anything in a heartbeat and ignored the sheer amount of work he had to put in for it.

They actually manage to stay quiet for a while when the questions start coming in. Barnes and Wilson seemed the most interested out of everyone

_*" I wonder why Tony never mentioned these people?"*_

"Why would I have? Especially after Ultron, why would I introduce friends to people insulting me all the time?"

"The Witch would have had a heart attack if you brought me home."

That would have been hilarious.

"They're quite shocked at your entrance age to MIT."

Sam jumped in just after Stephy spoke to back up his observations.

_*"I can't believe Stark went to college at 14, that's a bit strange, I mean, to put such a young child in an environment like college?" _

_"I'm sure Howard was looking out for him. He was a good man." _

_"Steve, still 14 and college.." _

_"Don't know why your so worked up about it Sam, his dad probably paid his way in and paid for his qualifications." *_

Stephy had started actively glaring at the screen now, at Rogers. He, however, was used to Rogers espousing how amazing Howard was, it was something he had filtered out within a week of meeting the super soldier. It was how he'd maintained a friendship with the man, he'd tentatively dropped hints about Howard, but none really got through, Rogers was very defensive of Tony besmirching Howard's good name. He would not be telling Stephy that however. Not with the utter death glare he was giving the TV, Stephy didn't have many friends, but he was heavily biased to the ones he had. That Wilson seemed to care how old he was at college was interesting. Weird. But interesting.

Maybe this was why he was doing non stalkerish 'research' on him?

_*"I just looked up his dissertations, he got his PhD after only 3 years. Several of them. When he was 17" *_

He shook his head, mildly amused that Wilson was now becoming so interested in him. Not when they'd actually lived together. Lang looked interested too. They were silent again for a while, Rogers looked interested when the picture of him in the hospital flashed up. But he said nothing. The bigger shock was the pained look on Barnes face.

Out of all his previous friends and family, it actually looked like… Barnes cared more, this was before he found out about BARF too. So he wasn't really anything to the man. There wasn't a reason to care about him. If it had been after he'd found out about BARF, he could possibly be doing it to keep being treated.. He shook his head, confusing Super Soldiers.

Then the reporter asked that damned question about Rogers.

_*"She'll have to, I'm the leader of the Avengers. *_

Tony just rubbed his face, that sentence alone utterly exhausted him and he wondered if Stephy would let him check out before the other questions were asked. From his amused face he'd bet it would be a no.

_*"They're… They're making me, making us out to be a bullies!"_

_"Aww, poor little Stark, trying to make people think he's the victim." *_

He just sighed, dropping back onto the bed and throwing an arm across his eyes. He still had trouble accepting Rhodey's world view, about how the other Avengers treated him. He wasn't in high school, he wasn't being bullied. He just let himself relax into the mattress, enjoying the darkness as the TV continued with the press conference. After a few seconds he felt the cloak settle across his chest and lowered one of his arms to pat it. Levi rippled happily.

Things had actually been silent for a while and he was considering sitting up when of course, they started bitching about him again. Even with an entire team, that he wasn't even one of the leaders of, everything was his fault.

_*"Is everything a joke to them?" _

_"Everything is a joke to Stark. That Strange has apparently been his friend for decades so they're probably the same, he just went and found himself a team of people exactly like him." *_

It was easy to ignore that however, he'd seen the optics. People had absolutely loved the interactions with Levi. Levi had his own hashtag and everything, it was #SnarkyCloak. Levi loved it, Stephy pretended to hate it. Probably because Levi was more popular than him. Or because he didn't know how to use twitter.

"You hear that Stephy, you're like me!"

"I think if they met me little differences would become apparent rather quickly."

He was way too good at sounding ominous.

Listening to himself, Hope and Carol discuss funding was quite good actually, it was a reminder that he was no longer in this alone. Wanda seemed to sense his comfort over time and space and jumped in.

_*"It's blood money anyway. It's the least he can do." *_

He pushed his arm tight into his eyes until he started to see sparkles and let the comment pass because he knew the question he was dreading was coming up. Where Laura answered about him legally owning the Avengers.

_*"He can't just claim to have the Avengers!" _

_"Sure he can. Fury effectively gave it to him. You were the team leader but he funded everything so it was his. Fury figured that it was the best way to keep him invested." _

_"But that's, that's not right, I'm the head of the Avengers."*_

The bickering after that was painful to hear. He was unsurprised that Rogers still saw himself as the leader, even though they had been co-leaders for years now. Wilson cut in with a quite amusing line that almost had him liking BirdBrain2.0 and he removed his arm to glance at the screen for Roger's reply.

_*"You did tell him that the Avengers were always his cap." *_

That it sent Rogers stomping from the room just as he started watching again was perfect. Barnes reentered then with food, causing him to blink, he hadn't realised the guy had gotten up. He definitely looked different. This was the first time he was stood in full view of the camera. He had put on more mass in quite a short time, the serum turning the adequate food supply into muscles alarmingly fast. He expected the video to cut off there, but Barnes got another line in before it went dark.

_*"Can we watch Lord of the Rings?"*_

Between the level of trust the man was giving him. The, at least he hoped, genuine care and apology that went into the letter, his reactions around the others… He started to become a _person_ to Tony. Instead of an _idea_. More than just an interesting brain he could indulge himself watching defeat his algorithms. That he also wanted to watch Lord of the Rings with genuine excitement in his voice?

Tony's 'must help' instincts just got ratched all the way up, and he wonders if Stephy can See that because he's giving him a smirk.

"Go get ready for breakfast, I think you should tell Carol you know where the rogues are but you should inform her that she can't do anything with the information first. Then see what she says. I don't think there is anything to be worried about immediately. "

"What about future worries?"

"The Archers anger is a concern. As are the Captain's delusions. For me, my prime concern is the Witches ineptitude with regards to her powers."

He scowled at that, after he had gone to the sanctum and Stephy had cleared his brain, the sorcerer had not been quiet when it came to anger about the Witch. He and Carol were even meeting regularly with the Accords Council about dealing with crimes when it came to mind magic interference. Which of course had nothing to do with him.

"And the others?"

"The Antman seems to be realising his folly, as does with Winged one. The Winter Soldier seems to be adapting to the new century well, no doubt in thanks to your interferences."

"Not awful then?"

"Anything else you are _forgetting_ to mention to me?"

With that he gets a heavily pointed 'look'.

"Hey, if we are doing the complaining about vanishing thing, my few weeks do not compare to your blackout and mystical vacation!"

"Pft. That just cancelled out your palladium poisoning and you know it."

With that, gold blasted across his senses again, by the time he could see he was in the room alone. Well, not really. When he realised that Stephy had left Levi with him. The sorcerer really was a good brother, knew him too well, but sometimes that was good instead of bad. He also liked how he referred to all the rogues with titles, it helped him separate them in his mind from people who had been family.

…

After showering, he ran his hands through his hair a few times, yeah, he definitely needed Laura to cut his hair. Preferably before he goes to have breakfast with T'Challa, because it had done another huge growth spurt over the night. How Stephy had held off mocking it whilst he was here was a puzzle in itself.

"FRIDAY? Please tell me Laura is still in her room?"

"Nope Boss, everyone is already in the common room getting ready for breakfast."

"Dammit."

Well, fuck it. No way was he trying to hack this off himself. He ducked into Harleys room because he knew the teen had hair ties. He usually just left his hair floppy, but when he was working on the cars he tied it up. Putting in own hair in a ponytail felt a lot weirder than doing Tara's hair but only took a few tries before it had been contained. Potentially ignored?

Jess screwed that up the second she saw him, practically appearing behind him and pulling out the hair tie.

"Jess, it took me way too long to put that in, why did you pull it out? Laura, please cut my hair, pretty please?"

"Aww, but Tony, I want to play with it."

"How about, next growth spurt when I'm not about to go on live TV, I'll leave it long all day."

Jess tilted her head, considering the offer before nodding and moving back to her food.

"Come sit here Tony, I've eaten so ill cut your hair whilst you eat. This is the longest I've seen it in a while!"

"Does this happen often then?"

"T'Challa, it is annoying, I go to sleep with my normal hair and wake up with it around my shoulders."

He rolled his eyes as he dropped into the chair by Laura, Bruce dropping a plate in front of him that was blissfully stacked with bacon, eggs and pancakes. He'd worried that watching the videos would put him off his dinner, but apparently not much could stop his stomach these days. Laura had become quite the expert in returning his hair to what it was supposed to look like, which was good because finding a hairdresser that would keep silent that Tony Stark's hair grew several years of length over night every other week was a nigh impossible task.

T'Challa seemed to be enjoying breakfast, everyone seemed to be getting a little time with him. Bruce was quite taken with the young King and they'd managed to hold a conversation over Cooper and Peters attempts to derail it. Jess was in Harleys camp, shooting him occasional glares, Matt was sitting next to them, that 3 people would snub a king because of something he had forgiven the man for was incredibly sweet, baffling, but sweet. Luke and T'Challa seemed to get along, Danny seemed to have no idea what to say and eventually came to hide next to him and Hope. The 3 girls had already asked him a few hundred questions apparently.

Carol had smiled and he'd tried not to look but the pain and guilt over what happened were right there and he found his anger slipping under it. Carol had told him that he had a right to be angry about things, even when faced with this. That she was the one he was taking advice from to be annoyed at her had just become a twisty confusion pile in his brain. She nodded at him and didn't try to approach, which left him feeling oddly grateful for the reprieve.

T'Challa was taking it in his stride, he suspected when he eventually got to steal Shuri she'd be the same, if not better. She had the kind of personality that would easily become the leader of the older teens he suspected. Probably the adults too. When Shuri actually was an adult the world would be in her hand. He was just happy to watch it. He would definitely be subtly introducing Shuri to Reed. It would be hilarious seeing the man try to deal with Shuri. He and Sue could eat popcorn. Revenge for the man's damned portals.

"Right, your done, I'm driving, so I'll go and get the cars."

Laura announced before picking up her bag and leaving the kitchen, apparently Laura was coming.

"Anyone else coming?"

He glanced around the table, waiting to see if anyone else was inviting themselves. He tapped the disk on his hand, T'Challa watched fascinated as the cover slipped into place, much to Peter's glee. He pulled on his favourite suit jacket on, black and silver and had his sunglasses hanging from the shirt pocket. The Dora were obviously coming but that was it, they'd have to take two cars.

"Come on Meowthra, looks like it's just us and you don't want to keep Agent Mom waiting."

He grinned, waving to the others as T'Challa disentangled himself from everyone. He slips the glasses on when they leave the residential district, Laura is waiting out front for them. A car idled behind with one of the compound drivers in it. Okoye joined them in their car.

"She never picks the flashier cars, but she has a knack for picking the most expensive and the fastest ones."

The trip to the studio was a lot more fun with Laura driving, T'Challa definitely enjoyed himself, anytime she was able Laura blasted multiple speeding laws to pieces, but she definitely enjoyed herself.

" So, are you just going to walk in with me, did you call the studio ahead?"

"Na, I figure you go on, then when they've started I'll come on."

Laura just shakes her head, smiling. T'Challa goes ahead, Laura parks up and walks in with him. He'd thought she'd go elsewhere but apparently his little family were serious about this 'Tony is not alone' policy when he was out of the house. Not that today would be difficult, there was a small studio audience to contend with but it wasn't that big and he'd been practicing keeping his sight pulled back. His glasses were also made out of the nanites. T'Challa also had a calming presence, he'd definitely gotten better since the press conference. Plus, his side tactic of closing his eyes and switching to CCTV worked in a pinch. Walking and doing that was a skill still in its infancy. Trying to work out left and right as you see yourself from multiple vantage points is harder than it sounds.

They got through security easily, as FRIDAY had snuck in to their servers earlier and put them on the list and no one questioned it. Laura found a chair that she could sit on in view of T'Challa, so he was facing her. He just loitered as if he was meant to be there and watched until he got brought up, T'Challa decided to speed things up, the guy really didn't like doing these things it seemed.

"I've enjoyed my trips to America so far with the Accords Council, meeting the other councillors has also been good. Everyone has been very accepting of our plans to open up Wakanda slowly, the people I've met have also been most unlike what I suspected."

" Ah, I assume you mean Tony Stark? What was it like to get whisked off to dinner with our favourite genius?"

" Oh, that was a lot of fun, he told me a lot about what Stark Industries was involved in. "

" Yes, here in America everyone always needs the next piece of Stark Tech.

" We have been surprised lately, Mr Stark seems to be working constantly but he just hasn't been seen much, King T'Challa you've seen more of him than we have lately, how is he recovering?"

Tony grinned and figured that would do,plus the pleading glances T'Challa was sending his way, he straightened up his suit and strolled onto the stage before T'Challa had a chance to answer. The two of them were so going to have to prank Shuri for setting them up like this.

"My ears were burning."

He gives the crowd a large, textbook smile but closes his eyes to avoid the overload before looking back at the host, the incredibly shocked host and amused T'Challa. As there wasn't a seat for him he hopped up into the hosts desk, crossed his legs at his ankles and relaxed as if it was normal.

"Hi."

"Mr Stark! We didn't expect to see you today!"

"Well, T'Challa spent last night at the compound and mentioned today's little interview, so I thought I'd tag along."

"Yes, the compound is absolutely gorgeous, it was lovely having breakfast with the Avengers."

"I also heard that you were considering partnering up for some of Mr Stark's initiatives?"

"Oh yes, this man's brain is brilliant, he's going to help me get my inventions to where they're needed. At home and abroad."

"Dr Stark is also interesting to work with. Not at all what I expected an American businessman to be like."

"What were you expecting?

"Profit driven, uncaring and only caring about their own country. Dr Stark is giving his Intellicrops away for free. In areas where children are going blind from lack of Vitamin A, it is a particularly severe problem in populations where rice is the staple food and diversity of diet is limited, as white rice contains no micronutrients. Dr Stark has created a rice variant with added Vitamin A specifically to help these people. "

" Wow, I didn't know about this, I guess when people think of Stark Industries people think tech, not food. "

"It's something I've been involved in for a while. There are some 2 billion people who suffer from some type of important nutritional deficiency. Thousands of kids die each day because of a lack of vitamin A for example, nearly a 3rd of children in developing areas are blind from it. Biofortified crops are a good alternative to alleviating malnutrition."

"And you're giving these crops away?"

"Generally, the people who desperately need these crops can't afford them, so it makes sense. If giving away some seeds saves children from living blind because they lack a vitamin that is easy to acquire for us, why wouldn't I?"

"I guess some people would prefer you to focus your humanitarian efforts at home?"

T'Challa barely manages to not rolls his eyes.

"I do have a lot focused in America, trying to end food deserts for example. But humanitarian efforts are for humanity."

"This is what I was talking about."

T'Challa grinned and he grinned back, the presenter had flushed a little but didn't let that stop him. As much as T'Challa hated these things, he'd definitely learnt to direct the questions into favourable areas.

"So, King T'Challa, how is integration with the world going, from what I've been told your computers don't use the same binary system as the rest of us?"

"Oh Dr Stark and our technicians have been working on it night and day. I was pretty sure it was fine several versions ago, but apparently Dr Stark and my sister are perfectionists."

"I've had tons of fun working with Princess Shuri, she is brilliant. Even some of the younger interns I have at SI love her."

"I read about your intern project, schools all over the country are involved? Finding the best and brightest?"

"That's right, as much as I'm the businessman you all love to hate, at my core I'm a scientist. I want to make sure the next generation find it easier to get into science. Less roadblocks. I even had emails from kids from schools that didn't join the program, this one kid Gethin, he just asked for some books because the ones at his school were ancient and falling apart! After that I had my PA making a list of schools lacking funding and am now supplying what they need. "

"That's very selfless of you."

"Na, I just want more scientists in the world."

He'd also expanded his Smart Kids programme. Pepper had wanted to call them Stark Kids but Tony thought that sounded too much like he'd gotten a bunch of people knocked up and hidden them around the country. T'Challa answers a few questions about Wakanda as a frazzled technician at that point ran out with a chair like the one T'Challa was sat in. He smiled at them and hopped off the presenter desk and utterly shocked them by thanking them directly. The man gave him a bright smile in return before jogging back and Tony made himself turn back to the host. What, the guy was tall, had long hair and was wearing extremely tight trousers. That was very distracting.

"King T'Challa, are you and your people excited to rejoin the rest of the world?"

"Oh definitely, some of my people have been waiting for this for a long time."

"So, Mr Stark, you know the question we want to ask."

"Go on, ask about it."

He waved his hand and relaxed into the chair, crossing his legs with his ankle to knee. He wondered what he should say, because it was going to be about his coma. He had had a talk with Peter last night about it. Peter had told him that he should reveal _something_. He wanted him to show the world his hand. Even though the kid had spent months working on the cover it. He said he could still use it, but that the world should know that superheroes _could get hurt. _

"We all saw the picture of you in the hospital. We all know you were in a coma. We haven't seen much of you since, so we wanted to know, how you've been recovering."

"Well, it's been a long road. I'm not at 100%, but I'm working to get there. I might not be in the skies, _yet_, but there is a lot of work I could do from home."

"We've been keeping up with your work, for someone not on the Accords Council, you do a lot of work for them."

"Of course. It is an important document, for humans and supers alike. Whilst recovering from my injuries it made sense to focus on it. Just a shame I missed those 10 days in a coma."

"Dr Stark seems to never stop working."

"Nope, my physio often gets infuriated with me."

"Do you mind if we ask what injuries you suffered? You've been very close to the chest about them."

Ha. Close to the chest.

"In general people don't think of superheroes getting hurt, so I kept that private. As you can see I'm able to work fine and I'll be flying in no time… but I'll show you one thing."

With that he stood and removed his suit jacket. Neatly folding it and hanging it over the back of the chair before sitting back down, as he undid the button at his cuff everyone has gotten very silent. He folded the sleeve up to past his elbow, ignoring the hiss the presenter gave when the thick ring of scars became visible and murmurs from the crowd.

"That's some pretty severe scarring."

At that he tapped the back of the hand. The cover retreated until the whole cybernetic hand was revealed. It was still matte black, but he'd made some changes last night, he'd added a line of arc reactor blue light that ran along two of the seems, just some fun upgrades. One from the tip of his thumb, the other from the tip of his little finger, both stretching up to the middle of his forearm. The silver decals that Harley had designed were still there too, giving it a nice understated look. He was damned proud of it and he was sick of hiding it away himself. Oddly, when he'd first woke up he'd barely looked at the missing limb, adding the cybernetic attachment hadn't improved it. Weirdly, harleys damned decals and Peter's cover had him not looking at it in scorn.

"Yeah, the scarring is pretty bad."

He held up his hand so the cameras, crowd and the utterly stunned presenter could get a could look.

"I'm guessing that is not a covering, or a glove?"

"Nope. After a fight, I had severe frostbite, my doctors could do a lot, worked wonders in fact. But they couldn't save everything and my hand, wrist and some of my forearm was amputated."

"How has it changed things for you? I don't know if I could carry on fighting after losing a limb! But I am a lefty."

"I'm ambidextrous, so I didn't have to learn to use a different dominant hand. But this won't stop me. I'm still Ironman, as long as Ironman is required, he will be there, from domestic terrorism, wildfires, bad guys our police can't fight and if aliens come knocking. I will get back up until I'm physically incapable. And then probably try and find a way to anyway. "

He chuckled and the audience chuckled to, he wasn't sure why people found this trait of his so impressive. For Pepper it was one of his worst traits.

"I guess we should expect such dedication from Ironman by now, after you caught that nuke and flew it into a portal in space, when you did that, did you know you'd be fine?"

"Oh no, I thought it was a one way trip. The blast knocked the power out of my suit, luckily I fell through the portal and The Hulk, my buddy, he caught me."

"After that I guess missing a hand wouldn't stop you after all?"

"Nope, I've always known I could get hurt, but it never stopped me before. It wasn't easy, waking up with a part of you just gone. Sometimes I would wake up and have phantom feelings of it, very strange. If anything it's made me more determined and shown me more people I can help."

"That's must have been hard to deal with. Is this why you have gotten more involved with disabilities and prosthetics?"

"Partially, I'm sure you know about James Rhodes accident too? After that I started doing research, found out that a lot of people who need disability aids are left unable to get them. When I woke up from the coma, missing my left hand, it sharpened it more. Trying to do things one handed? Not as easy as it seemed. Now, I had the contacts and ability to build this for myself, with Shuri in Wakandas help. She helped me through a lot in those early days. When I was back up to two hands I decided to change the disability aids industry. "

"Just like that? "

" Yeah, it's not something many people put into. People who require the aids are something of a niche market, if you make a replacement limb, it's only needed by a very select group and the needs of a veteran won't line up with a 5 year old with cancer, so it's not profitable. Because of this disability aides are expensive, not updated often and for many, hard to acquire. Children wearing prosthetics they've grown out of, powered chairs on the edge of falling apart, ancient crutches that cause more pain than they help. "

" You seem quite passionate about this Mr Stark. "

" I've come to see Dr Stark is quite passionate about many things, helping people seems to drive Dr Stark as much as it does Ironman. "

"For this instance, It's definitely a case of having my eyes opened. Watching Rhodey not be able to go to his favourite shop because there is a step I never even noticed, or spend 40 minutes waiting for an empty lift. I didn't realise how inaccessible the world was, so I'd like to do my part to change that."

"Well, that certainly is a good goal! We are actually out of time for today, hopefully we can get the two of you back someday. I have a feeling that Mr Stark and King T'Challa partnering up will lead to amazing things for our planet!"

Well, that went a lot better than he had expected, the presenters colours were practically vibrating with happiness that it had been them to get the story about his hand first. He shook hands with him and let the man feel the hand, turning it over and looking at it in awe.

"So, can you feel with it?"

"Sort of, not the way a real hand does. It's wired directly into my nerves, so I get input, hot and cold. Some textures, it's more information in my mind than feeling."

"That is amazing, thank you Mr Stark for crashing my show."

The presenter winked at him before turning to T'Challa and crossing his hands over his chest. After that, he and T'Challa met up with Laura and the Dora to head home. Tony hadn't had a single glitch, and Laura looked really proud of him. Which meant a lot and had him feeling like a kid whose mom is proud of your school work for the first time in his life. It was nice.

…..

T'Challa came back to the compound for a few more hours to have lunch with them before heading back to Wakanda. He took the letter he had written for Barnes with a smile on his face, eerily similar to his sisters. What is it with people reading into things so much when it comes to Barnes? He doesn't like the man, he is just helping fix his brain. Not replying to the letter would be rude. That's it. Nothing else. Just because he is slightly in love with the man's brain, that thankfully no one but FRIDAY will ever know about, or how long Tony has spent working on the algorithms for the guy. He might have finished the integration months in advance, but it was going to get done anyway. Having it done just meant that Barnes recovery could be sped up. From what he'd seen in the videos, he was doing better already. He wasn't so pale and gaunt anymore. Considering everything he'd been through, he looked pretty amazing really and his voice was really.. Interesting with that Russian undertone, it would be interesting to hear him actually speaking Russian too..

But none of that meant anything. It just meant Tony didn't _hate_ him, he understood that he wasn't really the one to kill his parents and he didn't deserve to carry that guilt. He wasn't going to become best pals, he just wanted to help him.

Tony shook his head, trying to push Barnes to the back of his mind. He didn't know why, but after watching the videos, he just kept popping up..

Anyway, he needed to focus on the integration. It had to be finished if he wanted to move to the next stage with helping the guy who trusted too damn much. With that, he hung his suit jacket and tie up in his workshop, sat down, lay his hands on the desk and dove straight in.

It was 1am when he finally finished, he pulled out of the code, stretched and heard his spine crack. He had been in far, far too long. He hadn't spent that long in the code before, he had started at around 2.30pm. He hadn't even surfaced for break, only 1 to read the kids their nighttime books. So now he was paying for it, he was starved. Luckily someone had delivered him food that he fell on, in a ravenous fashion, as he felt FRIDAY and CERBERUS' displeasure with his inability to take care of himself.

As he ate he pushed all of the files and watched with great satisfaction as everything clicked into place. He only had to go back in to fix 6 bugs. He texted Shuri that he was finished and watched her push the finalising files he'd sent earlier from her end. The tiny pathway with a huge delay expanded and he was giddy with the result. He and Shuri amused themselves sending stuff back and forth practically instantly just because they could. Eventually though she ordered him to bed…

But he was far to wired for that. The thrill of finally finishing the integration had him flying high and there was no way he would sleep. Instead he decided to work on the new medium RT hives and reactors for his suit. This way there were multiple power sources and back up hives. After he finished up all of his food, he hopped up to wash his hands before pulling on the antistatic gloves, when working with parts so small they were required. Even if they felt weird on his hands now. They never used to, pre-Extremis.

He wondered if it was because of his tech abilities, because of them he'd noticed that if he really concentrated, he could feel electricity. As in in the mains, not just in technology. It was like a crackle he could feel along his skin. He had ideas about that but wanted to run it by Bruce first so he could tell him if he was being reckless with his own life or if it was a natural progression of his abilities that he should investigate. Tony wasn't exactly great at finding that line. In the past, he hadn't really cared. But now he had a family, a family that would be hurt if he nearly got electrocuted to death. So as tempting as it was, he pushed it back. For now. Right now he'd focus on making himself safer, harder to hurt.

**Rhodey POV**

After getting FRIDAYs messages, Rhodes dropped pretty much everything he was doing and immediately beelined to the workshop. Even though he was just about to take the bracers off and get into bed. After a ridiculously long Saturday. After Tony and T'Challa had their little peppy interview, suddenly a bunch of things that had been perfectly fine to wait until Monday were suddenly urgent! He was still impressed with Tony however, going on TV and telling the world he had his hand and wrist amputated. Pepper had been furious, he'd dealt with it however as Tony had been busy working on the Wakandan integration link.

There was some backlash on the board, there was always some bad. This time however the good won out. The sheer volume of people on social media thanking him for admitting the loss of his hand was staggering. The fact he hadn't had to do it, but did anyway had resonated. So many other posted pictures of their own prosthetics. It was pretty cool. He'd received a lot of stuff directed at him, a black superhero was good on its own, now he had wheelchair users thanking him too, it was hard to get his head around, all in all, he was happy about it. It had however been a long, exhausting day. So FRIDAY activating LOTW protocol was not a welcome interruption. It also was not something he could ignore.

It hadn't even been a very informative message, the protocol was triggered and "Boss says he's considering something stupid." LOTW was a protocol for when Tony was going to do something potentially genius, amazing, but also stupid or dangerous with great risk to himself, the building, humanity or more importantly, Rhodey's sanity. Watch how I soar… right into a spike.

The way things had been swinging wildly from everything is fine to, nope, not fine very quickly lately made him move a little faster. He didn't want to miss something because he ignored a vaguely cryptic message from Friday at stupid o'clock in the morning.

When he got to the workshop however the lights were dimmed Tony was curled up on the ancient sofa, wrapped in a blanket with the projector active on the wall.

OK…?

"Tony, why did I get an alert from FRIDAY that you are considering something stupid yet here you are watching.. Stargate? "

"This is me trying to not do the dumb thing. "

Rhodes moves to sit down on the sofa next to Tony, and notices his infuriating friend has built what looks like a sodding plinth of some kind not far away from where they are sitting.

An actual plinth.

All backed out. Looking ominous and extremely creepy.

He glares at the thing.

Because it is _obviously_ why he's here at 4 am talking to Tony and watching Stargate, he knows it. He feels it in his bones.

"Tony. What's that?"

"Huh? Oh. It's a level 7 black out containment box."

Rhodey full on twitches at that and shifts his glare to Tony.

"I thought level 5 was your highest containment level. What the fuck caused you to create a whole new level of containment and then up it even more?!"

Tony just fidgets, scratching his chin whilst being heavily focused on the screen. Obviously not wanting to answer but feeling somewhat compelled because it's him. Plus, it was Tony who developed the Leaf on the Wind protocol after all. His name was 1st. Harley had been completely removed since Rhodey decreed having Harley be Tony's rudder on doing stupid things in the workshop was something he should have been told about. Rupulsers in coffee mugs had been mildly terrifying for example. He'd been relaxing on the balcony when the telltale repulsor sounded off behind him, he had turned just in time for 4 cups of, thankfully, Water, dumped on him.

Tony hadn't wanted to waste coffee on the test flight. 1 exploded, 1 crashed into the wall. Somehow interference in the receptors, likely from Tony's Extremis going haywire as he'd gotten very stressed after the cup exploded near Rhodey, and it resulted in two rogue coffee cups. It took Vision 6 hours to find one… The other is still in the woods around the compound. They have a board for sightings and everything. Turned out in his panic Tony somehow accidentally programmed a rudimentary AI into it. So when it came to Tony's more _'out there'_ ideas? He was called.

Tony eventually started talking when he realised Rhodey was going nowhere.

"The nanites needed a little extra oomph for containment."

Rhodey switches his attention between Tony and the fucking black plinth before he realises exactly why Tony is watching Stargate.

More importantly, which episode of Stargate he was watching.

"I should be seen this coming shouldn't I."

"Oh yeah. It was painfully obvious that this was going to happen. I'm surprised it's taken me so long actually."

"Tony don't tell me you aren't making rep-"

"WE DON'T USE THE R WORD!"

* * *

**Authors Note** that got really super duper long. Tldr (Lexiphile) If you are concerned about poof uber Steve redemption, it's not my style, but I'm trying to be more fair. Steve's problematic behaviour in my eyes started long before Age of Ultron.

As you mentioned a lack of content that is not Team Cap Friendly, I thought I would write this mini life story apparently, that is me saying, I have 2 others fics! That are definitely not team Cap Friendly, so I don't get too biased at certain Rogues on Frostbitten. One is an ongoing, the other is a series of 11 chapter fics, currently working on part 4. I'm very biased to him there.

**Long version!**

I can't reply to comments on here, which is sad, especially when I get questions! Someone wanted to know if there was going to be a 'poof Steve absolution' because there might be some potential Wanda interference, and no. I'm trying not to be horrendously biased because I simply dislike MCU Steve with the burning passion of a thousand suns, my issues with him however started long before a certain mind controlling witch came onto the scene. I am however really trying not to be horrendously biased towards the walking cardboard cutout of judgement. How am I doing this you might wonder (or not, I might just be rambling here for no reason.) The answer to this is that I actually have 2 others fics where I take out my frustrations, so, that lovely reviewer (Lexiphile) that wanted content where Steve will 100% be anything but pretty darn awful. Where I might get a little revenge, where he might get terrified by a literal God of Death at one point... It exists! ... Just not here because posting here is actually quite tricky for those of us who write, post and do everything on a mobile phone (Because of how I broke my back, I'm unable to sit for very long, so I am lying on my side most of the day.) I love this site, its where I first started reading fanfic many, many moons ago, but it is not that mobile friendly. I very nearly did not cross post Frostbitten here due to initial frustrations with formatting!

So! Onto the fics. They are also Tony/James, I am hooked on this ship, and are pretty Tony centric because I like writing Tony's brain. There simply are not enough characters that I've seen with parallel thought, so when I'm writing Tony, I can just write how I view the world through parallel thought and Hypervigilance instead of constantly reminding myself that my brain is weird. I am sadly however not a genius, billionaire engineer xD

One is called 'Deaths Merchant, Life's Guardian'. It starts at the same place as Frostbitten because its quite a good place to start fics I think. But instead of being rescued, Tony is actually the mortal form of something else. Something older, and much, much more powerful that is awakened in the Bunker. It's my twist in the sadly, very small, Tony is a God genre. But I do not have the knowledge to pull of the usuals (Anubis / Hephestus). What I do have a ridiculously amount of knowledge on is more Celtic leaning. So that is the pond this story sits in.

I have considered moving this one over, as it isn't a series, but there's 41 chapters up already that the idea of transferring makes me want to cry 😂. It has some serious bits, some parts that are just hilarious, if I do say so myself, just think of a Tony Stark with the ability to teleport recruiting people. I have so much fun with those chapters! Currently at 112,722 words, chapters range from 2k to 6k because I can't stick to self prescribed word limits, updated 3 times a week. Occasionally if I think a bunch of chapters call for it, it switches to daily updates.

The other is a series that currently is made up of 3, 11 chapter fics that are definitely on the darker side. Because after Siberia, Tony was found by some one else. The first is set 5 years after Siberia and is my take on the unreliable narrator, Steve's POV and really he just is not great. The beginning has the world in a very different state where Hydra are less sneaky and more owning whole damned countries. It was better received than I suspected. So I followed it up by story 2, which is then from Tony's perspective. Story 3 is directly after the end of 1/2 because people kept asking what happened to a certain character and I, being the lovely author I am, made everyone cry.

They aren't gruesome or torture filled like most Hydra Asset fics as I didn't want to do that, I wanted to paint the picture without going into gory details but still have it hit hard, so if you don't like gore, then you'll be in luck. They are written purely by the worst of my insomnia and chronic pain when I don't want it to spoil my other fics. It's also where I set myself challenges to hopefully improve my writing for my main monster fic, Frostbitten. They are also liberally peppered with references that I get a kick out of people spotting. The series itself is currently at 146,199 words and part 4 is being worked on when I'm able. With this fic as each story is 11 chapters, I wait until I've finished it and upload a chapter a day.

I don't know if links work here, but all this is on AO3 and I'm under the same author name as here. But let's try some links shall we? If they don't, Corvixa is me and my profile picture is a delightfully adorable moustachiod cat who some may recognise the description of. Yes I put my cat in my fanfic. He is actually called Thor, he has gone to war with many things, toasters, pizza boxes and the first 3 months he ate my arm daily and refused to sleep on anything but me. He thinks he's a dog, grows at the postman and everything. But it works, because we have a collie, who thinks he's a cat and hangs out in windowsills. I'm going go stop typing now as I'm merely rambling as I do when my pain is acting up.

/series/1595728 - It's All Gold (3 stories)

/works/21368806/chapters/50900395 - Deaths Merchant, Life's Guardian

I hope everyone is enjoying this fic and I would be delighted to see any of you lovely darlings over on my other fics. They're open, so you don't need an accounts to read or comment if that would put anyone off!

Also, I read all of your lovely reviews people, they make me smile and make the pain bearable, so thank you!


	18. Chapter 18 - Inadvertent PenPals

**Chapter 18**

**Inadvertent PenPals**

**Barnes POV**

**_4th October_**

He let out a breath as the pixels fell away, revealing Shuri's lab. They'd been working on some of his memories, mostly to gain insight on how his mind was reacting to the algorithms, but also making serious headway. From what Shuri had told him, his brain was making matters complicated and because of it, she and Dr Stark, and he still hadn't quite gotten his head around that part… But because of his brain, the two geniuses were having to spend even more time working with him. He's pretty sure they could be off ending world hunger or something, but instead they're both helping him.

He figured that the _least_ he could do was work on the memories. Plus he was also working on ignoring the voice in his head. It occasionally got quite chatty and he was learning a few things about it. It liked Shuri, wanted to protect her, a lot. The jury was still out on T'Challa. It didn't like Steve, _at all_. It found Wings tolerable. Tic Tac was seen as an amusing pet. With Clint, it apparently hadn't forgiven him for that time he'd barged into his room. Wanda was the most perplexing. It _never_ spoke around her, he knew it didn't like her, could feel the rage but also _caution_. He had no idea what had triggered such a reaction, but then he didn't exactly like the little Ved'ma himself, so he hadn't questioned it. Dr Stark also _interested_ it, apparently not many people had dismantled a weapon in its hands before and although he thought that would be a mark against the man, weirdly, it made him _interesting_. Interesting enough he was pretty close to calling it a schoolyard crush. It added a whole new layer of bizzare to the situation.

It was also silent in all BARF sessions, especially after they isolated the memories for the words. They had only ran one of those memories when Shuri had noticed a huge road block, that they react absolutely nothing like the other memories. So the pair of them were working on that whilst he was still running through other memories. It took Shuri a while each memory to find an algorithm that would work, but they'd definitely had more success and failures. Which after the abject failure the memory tied with the first word, it was comforting and it felt like he was making a difference, his head felt better in general. He wasn't cured, he still woke up screaming occasionally, some days he didn't want to wake up. Some nights he couldn't sleep, maybe he was imagining it, but he felt hopeful about it.

He still hadn't let any of the others know about Dr Stark's involvement.

Wings had asked why he was so interested in the guy, and he'd just had to shrug it off. It wasn't that he didn't _trust_ him, out of everyone in the house they got on quite well. He just didn't know if Wings would go and tell Steve. Plus, saying 'this thing in the back of my brain stops annoying me when I research the guy' was out of the question.

He doubted he would run to tell Steve out of a bad place, not even in a malicious way. Maybe he'd tell him to prove something good about Dr Stark. But he knew enough about Steve, his reactions when he was mentioned? Yeah. That would not go well, _at all._

About as well as telling anyone he had a voice in his head would go probably. It had been easy to shrug of the thoughts as his when his head was fuzzy. Now he felt clearer every day, and they still came and they definitely weren't his.

It was when he talked to it that screwed him over apparently. He _knew_ talking to it was a bad idea, because now it had taken that as an invitation.

A _blanket_ invitation at that.

He even promised to stop calling it Shade if it would occasionally be quiet when ignoring it didn't work.

It wasn't that it spoke a lot really, it just seemed to have zero concept of social norms and appropriate behaviour!

If he was sitting through an uncomfortable team breakfast for example, it would feed him suggestions of throwing a knives at Clint for fun. If Steve was following him or trying to hug him, instead of dodging and leaving, it wanted to punt Steve through an open window. It liked Shuri so had recommended buying a knife for her. It liked knives, but then considering he liked guns he couldn't really argue that. It still wasn't sure about T'Challa, so it wanted to '_observe_' him. If this included breaking and entry, then so be it! It wanted to know more about everyone really.

So even though it didn't talk much.

It felt like a _LOT_.

He pulled the glasses off and decided to think about that much, much later. Hell, maybe it would go away and he'd never think about it again. He wasn't sure if he imagined the laughter at that.

"So, how goes the fight on the codes?"

Shuri practically jumped over and pulled him over to one of the many screens. She always gave him time after a session, to come back to himself. It was small but that kind of thing meant a lot to him.

"Well let's see shall we, Tony messaged last night that he'd had some ideas about our little problem. He's said he was going to work on the integration too."

He had no idea what had the things were that the two of them wrote, but he kind of enjoyed watching Shuri work on the system integration. The notes they left each other in the code were amusing.

" Hmm, he hasn't sent any updated Algorithms today but…"

"But what?"

"Let's just say he's been.. Busy?"

OK, now he was interested because the utterly incredulous face she was pulling right now was hilarious.

"How busy?"

"Well, for one, I recognise none of this."

She waved a hand and blew up what she was looking at and there was a lot, pages and pages worth of stuff he didn't understand. He knew a few coding languages, especially now that he was getting more memories of his time with hydra back completely. He knew his way around a few systems, true it was mostly security related and how to break that security, but it had given him a basis to understand some of the things Shuri had shown him. He couldn't even identify what language this was in.

"How long has the idiot been logged in..?"

Shuri muttered under her breath, bringing up more and more work that Dr Stark had apparently done. He idly wondered if the man actually _slept_, from what he'd found out, he seemed to practically have several full time jobs and yet he was putting an awful lot of work into this integration.

"I have no idea what any of this means."

"Don't worry White Wolf, I'm not sure I do, he's completely rewritten everything we've already done and then built on it, he's gone way off our calendar. There is work here we hadn't scheduled for months.."

She patted him on the shoulder before dropping down to read everything, he wasn't sure if she was irritated or impressed. Potentially both at the same time.

"Mind if I hide out again?"

"Sure, you're hidey corner is all yours."

She waved at said corner, it was literally just a comfortable chair that had mysteriously appeared a few days ago and a clear table. He liked it, either by accident, or knowing Shuri, on purpose, she had picked a corner where he could easily see the exits and most of the lab yet people didn't seem to notice his presence, no windows so it felt safe.

He barely read half a chapter before ringing jerked his attention out of his book and he looked at Shuri, wondering if he'd have to pack up and run before she answered or something.

"Don't worry, it's just Tony. Probably calling about all this. If you stay in the corner he won't be able to see you."

With that she moved to answer the call and now he was trapped. Did he want to be in the room effectively snooping on a video call? No!

'Yes.'

'See, this is why I'm trying to teach you about social contracts.'

'That's boring. This is fun.'

There was no way to walk around the scope of the camera, and he had no idea how low down the camera could see. There wasn't even a window to jump out of, his main way of dealing with uncomfortable situations. He slumped back into his chair, lamenting how he even got into situations like this as Dr Stark's image lit up in front of her. The man must have been in a lab of his own, it looked quite similar to Shuri's, but more white and steel. Blue holograms flickered around him but he couldn't work out much. There was definitely 'more' in Dr Stark's lab. There was stuff on every surface that he could see and quite a few cups. He wondered if he worked with others as that was a lot of cups really. Some even had stuff stacked on top of them.

Dr Stark was wearing his sunglasses again and a dark red suit, he was also still stretching his back, he could hear it popping and he guessed the mic distorted it as it sounded different than when he did that. Shuri immediately jumped to questioning him about the work she'd had shown him.

"How long have you been working on the integration today Tony, I came down and I can barely recognise it!"

Shuri was trying to look sterm but he could see from here that she was smiling. It was one thing to know they were friends, it was a bit different to see it so _clearly_. He wondered if the man had gotten his apology letter. Wondered if he had even read it for that matter.

"I didn't have much choice, the latest data packet you sent on Barnes, his mind is adapting too fast. I don't know how it's doing it, his mind seems to move as fast as my algorithms.."

"You sound impressed that his brain is literally screwing with us."

He blinked at that. What? He had thought the problems he was causing with the algorithm had Dr Stark doing more work, why would that impress him?

"What? It's a challenge. I like challenging things."

"Even when it's causing us problems?"

"Shuri have you really watched it when he's in a session? The code changes around the algorithm. No matter how I code it. I literally did not think that was possible."

"And this is a… Good thing?"

"Well, until we get around it getting shot of the words is practically stalled. But I didn't think it was possible for someone's brain to do this. I love impossible things. It's beautiful."

Huh. Okay.

He wasn't sure what to do with this information.

'I like this information, we have impressed the Feniks. This is good.'

Ahuh. Sure, this isn't weird at all. A billionaire genius in America whose parents you killed under brainwashing, likes your brain that is actively screwing him over, making his job harder. Then to top it all off, his uninvited passenger was preening over the compliment.

He really didn't know what to do with this.

It was good that he was still interested in helping him get rid of the words?

He figured he'd go with that because he _really_ had no idea what to do about it. What are you meant to do when someone gushed about how annoying your brain is? No one has ever called his brain beautiful before…

'This is why snooping on calls is bad! You think out confusing things!'

'I like it.'

'Of course you do.'

"So, what's you next step?"

"It depends on him. After the integration is complete, I could write an adaptive program instead, but I'd need to be online to guide it."

That got his attention, he wasn't sure why the other man seemed so tentative about it. He'd been writing algorithms for his mind to run with since the beginning, without them he'd be stuck watching the same memory hundreds of times. He was just happy that he had made this software, that he'd personally edited it and poured his time into it just to help him. He figured most people would have given up by now.

He wondered if maybe he looked uncomfortable because of him exactly. I mean, writing programmes for the person who killed your parents is one thing. Being online at the same time? That must be incredibly difficult for the man.

"I'm sure he'll be fine with it, he's happy for the help. I will ask him though."

"Hmm, still not so sure about that. No matter how much you try to convince me. He is probably only accepting my help because he feels like he has no other choice."

"Why are you boys such idiots?"

He nearly laughed at Shuri's comment but managed to hold it back. Before Dr Stark can comment an awful noise blares from somewhere in his lab. Causing the man to flinch violently away from it before his attention snapped in its direction.

"FRIDAY! Why did you set my alarm to that!"

"Sue told me to set it to something utterly obnoxious so you don't forget to come around for dinner."

A woman with an Irish accent responded, but he couldn't see anyone, and FRIDAY was a peculiar name.

"Crap! Gotta go Shuri!"

Dr Stark sort of flailed dramatically rather than waved and the call cut as he turned to leave. It was quite endearing and not an action that he would have suspected from the huge personality that is Tony Stark.

Shuri muttered to herself before turning to him.

"What that man needs is a vacation."

"Well, that was different?"

"Oh no. For him that's practically normal."

"He seems like he doesn't stop?"

"Nope. Rhodes told me he occasionally has to get the kids to sit on him to make him take a break. So, do you have a problem with it?"

"With what?"

"The program he wants to write, that he'll be guiding, or something. He has that look in his eye when his brain is running ahead of him, but he won't action anything unless you're good with it."

"Sure? I mean, without you two I'd be sitting in the dark space of Cryo."

"Princess Shuri, I have some notes Boss has written up that Sergeant Barnes might find useful?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the same Irish voice he'd heard on Stark's call spoke to Shuri. The call was definitely ended however, so he had no idea where that came from!

"Thanks FRIDAY, I'll send them along."

"Um.. who is that?"

"Oh FRIDAY? She's one of Tony's AIs."

"That's right. I'm pleased to meet you Sergeant Barnes."

"Oh, okay, pleased to meet you Miss FRIDAY. So, what's an AI?"

"I'm an artificial intelligence, Boss coded me, I help manage the compound and Boss' life."

"Holy crap that's amazing."

"I'm glad you think so Sergeant Barnes."

How the hell do you code a person? And he'd be damned if she didn't sound smug! The future was utterly bonkers. Or Shuri and Dr Stark were.

**Shuri POV **

**_7th October_**

She was going to kill her brother.

It was a sentiment that she'd felt often these last few months.

Today however she was raw fury.

T'Challa has gone off to some kind of council meeting or whatever, and as such, everything about the rogues had found its way to _her_. No one wanted to deal with them. _She_ didn't want to deal with them! But evidently, she was the last buck.

She'd woken up to 6 requests for T'Challa to come to the house to speak to Roger's and their current _'situation'_. Being that Captain Coloniser wasn't happy that they'd grounded him like the bratty child he was.

"Fine! Send a message back that I will turn up when the Witch has been escorted from the premises. When she's underwatch I will visit to speak of their _petty grievances_."

"Of Course Princess Shuri."

"And if the answer to that is to moan about the little Witchlings feelings being hurt, they can wait until T'Challa gets back from his business trip."

With that the messenger all but fled and she found herself almost wishing that they'd argue the point.

They were her brothers problem after all, he was the idiot who invited them in, set them up in one of the more isolated villas and was effectively giving them a free holiday! All expenses paid and they always found _something_ at fault.

And because of the precarious situation of harboring fugitives, they'd been backed into a corner by the Select Committee of the Accords Council. They were basically prison guards for people who didn't know they were prisoners until the world was ready to deal with them again. But at least they were being commended for this service instead of prosecuted for harbouring one of the most wanted group of supers at the moment. They only had that because of Tony. T'Challa had only recently discovered that Tony had been involved with it since the beginning. It had amused her greatly that her brother had actually thought that he didn't know the Rogues were in Wakanda, even though she recommended it on arrival, none of them ditched their gear. Tony had set up the deal to favour them behind closed doors, she had been pissed enough at her brother to agree to secrecy, the idea had been to have the Select Committee think they were winning and that they'd come up with it.

As time went on, she was starting to think thay the Select Committee were actually winning. Especially the more she was dragged into matters. The council in Wakanda of course wanted nothing to do with them beyond the potential political gain via the Select Committee, so her family was meant to deal with it alone. The idea being 'you got us into this mess, you get us out of it'.

As she dropped into her seat, rubbing her temples againstaa tension headache, a haggard looking Wolf snuck into her lab. Which was interesting, he'd gone home hours ago after their BARF session.

"What brings you back to my lair today?"

"Same thing that has your face like a thundercloud I bet."

"Why can't they just enjoy their little holiday in peace like normal people?"

"Well that's where you went wrong. They ain't normal. Lil Stevie was the most stubborn bastard Bucky ever set eyes on when he was this tiny skinny thing. He never lost the stubborn edge he needed to be heard, even now when he's, well. Him. People listen, but he still acts like the little guy no one hears."

"I imagine the difference between your friend and what he's become must be jarring."

"Sort of, but Bucky's memories, they don't feel like MY memories, especially the longer I'm awake. Looking at him was hard until I separated that in my head, because he was wrong somehow, too big, too loud. There's been so much time between them, practically a life times worth."

"That would help distance you from him."

"Yeah, for me it's been seven decades, him it's been a flash, so he is still looking for Bucky. Not the real one though, this idolised, eulogised, version of him that I don't think ever existed."

"I'd say I hope he comes around, but I am frankly too mad at him. They've requested me or my brother to speak about '_issues_'. Argh."

"Yeah, _that_. They're going to complain about Steve's situation, Barton should be allowed to contact his wife and to discuss your '_unfair assumptions_' on the Ved'ma."

He dropped himself down in a chair, looking utterly exhausted. They'd probably wanted him to be there for this meeting, a united front or some crap. She assumed he'd hopped out of the nearest window as soon as he was able.

"Well we can both hideout for a while. I bet the Witch will scream about my rule of her not being there for at least an hour. I am about to call Tony though."

"You two still working on that pile of incomprehensible code?"

"Yes, and that if Tony is agreeable, I want him to put on his armour, fly to the Accords Council and maybe throw my brother at a few walls for me. Just one or two."

She grinned and it got a laugh out of him, she could almost see him shrugging off the tension from the villa. Straightening up from the hunch he'd come in with, leaning back in his chair and pulling a book from his bag.

"Well I won't lie, that does sound interesting. You sure you don't mind..?"

"Don't be silly, that is your corner, you do what you want with it."

This was also one of the few places she knew that none of the others could find him or get to him. She knew he had hidey holes all over, she'd caught him napping on top of the bookshelves in the library once for instance. When it came to her lab however, he was completely cut off from them. The difference in him when he visited made her want to never send him back to the villa. They had a number of rooms and a private kitchen/common room available in the Palace for out of town guests. It was rarely used, no one was due to visit, it would be _perfect_ for him. But until he chose, she wouldn't make that decision for him. Every now and then though she reminded him it was an option.

She turned back to her screen and put the call through to Tony, but was utterly baffled when T'Challa popped into view.

"You're not Tony."

What the _hell_ was her brother doing in Tony's workshop?

"What delightful greetings I get from my sister."

"Ha ha brother, I just did not expect to find you in Tony's worksh- Peter!"

"Hi Shuri!"

Peter bounced up next to her brother, grinning broadly and bouncing slightly on the spot because of his never ending supply of energy. Harley complained about it _often_. She glanced around and saw Harley at his desk and Tony was likely helping him with homework most likely given the time.

He then turned and made his way to where her brother and Peter were standing. Harley offered a hand up in greeting too.

"Hey Shuri, workshop isn't always so busy."

"Why does she never smile at me like this? Charming sister, utterly charming."

Shuri rolled her eyes at her brother. He should be grateful she wasn't outright glaring at him.

"Your brother was going to give you a ring to say he made it here okay. He's just being accosted by Underoos here."

Tony was talking animatedly with his hands, and she had become so accustomed to it that she didn't see it. It was the sharp intake of breath behind her that made her actually _look_ and that was when she noticed Tony's arm. His sleeves were rolled up, the left revealing the cybernetic hand that they had worked on and a thick band of scarring.

It was also pretty clear Tony had gotten so overrun with having everyone in his workshop that he'd forgotten to hide it.

She also bet that her brother cancelled that meeting so he could go and talk to the man. The sneak.

After he'd seen the video, he'd been quiet. She was surprised it had taken this long really. They'd both been sitting on this unexploded bomb ever since CERBERUS had sent to too her.

"Well I hope you're having fun brother. Abandoning me with the pests you invited over!"

She pushed everything aside for now, she'd deal with most of it later and her brother was so going to make up for this. He wasn't even at the council! He was at the compound enjoying himself. Also he obviously had managed to get some more information out of Tony.

Oh and when she gets to meet Tony in real life she is so going to punch him, probably after hugging him. The man is infuriating, but in an annoyingly _understandable_ way. Watching that video, he can see why he keeps some things to himself, bottling it up, plus his need to not trouble her, if only he would see it was not a trouble to support friends.

"Next time you can come over Kit-Kat, the rest of my hoard would love to have you over. Today's council meeting was cancelled so he figured why not pop over!"

Sure.

_'Cancelled'_.

"Yes, I have some kind of interview tomorrow about how Wakanda is integrating with the world, so we thought we'd stop here and then go to the hotel."

"You sound utterly thrilled about that."

Tony's grin about T'Challa having an interview did give her an idea however. A tiny bit of harmless revenge.

"Tony! That's a great idea."

"Huh, What now?"

"You can go on the show with my brother."

Peter and Harley who were stood slightly behind the other two were now trying not to burst out laughing. Peter had his hands over his mouth and was starting to turn slightly red, Harley was grinning and shot her a thumbs up.

"Okay, fine, I'll crash your interview. Now, what were you after Shuri?"

Shuri actually had to think for a second, this call had gotten so derailed she'd almost forgotten the real reason she was calling him.

"Huh, Oh! I was just calling to tell you the next data packets are slowly making their way to you. It'll take a few hours."

Things sent quicker when they cleared both ends, still took far, far too long for her liking.

"Wait a second before you send, I have a surprise."

Tony vanished of camera then and she noticed that her brother was looking in the direction that he went, obviously watching him do something. Harley waved his phone and she realised he'd sent her a few messages.

**Harley**-did u c his hnd?

**Harley**-Shuri!

**Harley**-lk at ur dmnd phone!

She sent him a grin and quickly replied.

**Me**-Yes. I saw. Dnt thnk he did it on purpose tho.

**Harley**-Na, Mech is forgetful with it lately

**Harley**-its gd

**Harley**-me n Pete wnted to tel u fr ages

**Me**-I'll play dumb fr now, he'll realise wat hes done ltr

Harley nodded as Tony hopped back into the frame looking excited and a whole bunch of information started coming through on her end. She quietly wondered if Tony was trying to finish the entire integration in a week or something.

Not that she was complaining, not at all, this would make things considerably easier to send to him things.

"Better?"

"Oh yeah, you'll get everything much faster now." .

"I'll be able to finish everything up my end, then all you have to do is push your last changes and I think it might be done."

Done?!

"Done? As if you and my sister will actually stop working on it?"

"Well, mostly?"

She left the fact he'd gone and done months of work go and just laughed at the idea she or Tony would stop messing with it. The integration had started as a small thing, to make linking Wakanda with the rest of the world easier despite the vast differences technologically speaking, but she and Tony had taken it and ran with it. It was practically a living, breathing thing unto itself and she was surprised Tony hadn't coded an AI into somewhere.

"OK, I'm going to herd this lot off for dinner. Bye Kit-Kat."

She caught sight of his arm again and managed to not focus on it, it did however make the video play in her mind again and that was when she had an idea.

"Have fun, I might have some too.."

The call ended and she immediately looked over to her guest who looked like he was in actual pain. It was so sad that he seemed to have more guilt for something that he wasn't even really at fault for that the good Captain had.

"His.. His hand?"

"Yeah, I had my suspicions, but it was always covered. That's the first time I've seen it.. Attached."

She turned and pulled up the files she and Tony had worked on for the hand, including pictures of it, none attached obviously. He'd seen it before, but now there was confirmation. Looking at it felt different, even for her

"Zaebis' Holy shit"

"This isn't your fault you know, when you left that bunker you thought he was fine and you'd just been in a fight."

"Still, I know what it's like to wake up, have a limb just gone and then it's replaced with something foreign.."

"Tony's cybernetic hand is day to the night of the one Hydra made."

"That's something at least. How long did he stay in the bunker for? To do that amount of damage?"

"I don't know, his AIs, they, ah, sent me the video. From Siberia."

He just rubbed his hand across his face and nodded.

"They didn't know how long he spent there, he scrambled things so they couldn't work it out, the only person around at the start of his coma had no idea he'd even left for Siberia as he'd also been unconscious. As far as I'm aware, the only one who really knows is Tony."

"Well that tells us one thing."

"What?"

"It was long, if he doesn't want anyone knowing. He's bottling it up"

Before she could respond to that a message came through, the pests had acquiesced to her demands it would seem.

"Well. Looks like I'm going to meet your housemates."

"Mind of I…"

"Of course you can stay. No touching the weapons!"

She grinned before getting herself ready to go.

"You should show them."

That however got her attention, she had expected him to be… Worse over the video somehow. But he seemed oddly calm about it. He was utterly calm now, more relaxed and straight back having made up his mind she supposed. She nodded and set off to see what they'd complain about today. She'd considered dropping hints of it, but to actually have them watch it, that was interesting.

The trip to the villa moved far to quickly for her liking. She practically blinked and she was stood outside the door, getting confirmation from the guards that the Witch had been escorted from the premises. Even so, she still took a few of the Dora in with her.

Did she just so happen to pick those who had gotten the most fed up with the Idiots? Potentially.

It didn't help that a few of the Dora had now met the strange American their Princess had been video chatting for a while. He'd charmed them, even impressed Okoye somewhat, not that she'd ever admit it. So for the few that knew him as her friend, sitting and listening to their guests constantly bad mouth the man? Then there were the ones who had fallen for her Wolf, seeing him chuck himself out of windows to avoid people had not lowered animosity levels.

The last fight Clint had gotten in, let's just say they might have put him down. Hard.

Apparently he was still limping.

Even so, she didn't want to speak to them.

She much rather be in her lab right now, she'd had a few new ideas that she wanted to bounce off of her Wolf, and some book recommendations for the man. She didn't understand how he could be so.. _Different_ to Rogers.

Rogers expected to be _given_ things.

Wolf expected to be _denied_ things.

It was a small thing, but it spiralled out into practically all of their choices and actions. Sighing again, wishing she was _anywhere_ but here, heck, she'd take her brothers spot on that damned American interview than do _this_. Straightening her back she practically stalked into the house, her footsteps light as she came to the large, common room and heard Rogers complaining about the Witch 'being _forced_ from her _home_!' She entered the room rolling her eyes because seriously?

"You agreed to my conditions. If you were so against them, then you could always wait for my brother to get home."

"Princess! We didn't hear you come in!"

"Their whole family sneaks around like cats."

Scott's enthusiastic welcome wasn't dulled by the Angry Archers mutterings. Her brother had told her a lot about Scott, out of all of them(not including Wolf), Scott spent the most time talking to T'Challa. Sam came a close second since he'd gotten very interested in the Accords. Her brother avoided talking to the other 3 unless he was dragged to one of these ridiculous meetings.

"Hi Scott! Thanks for the compliment Barton. Now. Why am I here? You do realise that not all of us are on vacation and actually have duties, right?"

Okay. Maybe she was needling the wall of muscle just a _little_ bit.

"Well, Shuri.."

She just raised an eyebrow over the familiar way he was using her name.

"I don't know if you know what your brother has done, how he set certain restrictions on us? But I need to be there for Bucky and his treatments."

"Oh, you mean how you got grounded for lying, and that one got grounded for getting into fights?"

Rogers had to hold back Barton. It was _hilarious_.

"Now I don't know if you've heard anything, but.."

"I'm going to stop you there Rogers. Do you want to know why?"

He looked puzzled and she was sure Sam and Scott had edged away from the other pair.

"I _actually_ know what happened in Siberia."

"Steve, what is she talking about?"

Sam paled, as Scott asked tentatively, he and Clint had been absent for the previous discussions just looked confused.

"Well, now, I'm sure you've heard many things.."

"No Rogers. I _know_. I _watched_ it with my own eyes."

"I'm sure we can clear this up, I don't know who sent you that but they might be trying to manip-"

"You know what. I was going to let you talk yourself into a hole but you have already irritated me so much, I can't wait."

She pulled her wrists up and using her beads, sent the video onto the TV.

"Enjoy."

With that she turned and slammed the door shut behind her. Locking it.

"Don't let them out until they've watched it."

**Sam POV **

He'd known it was a bad idea.

He'd known it was a bad idea when he'd come down to Steve pacing back and forth.

The day did not get better from there.

Barnes went for his weird tech unbrainwashing therapy, which was doing the man wonders already.

Steve watched the door. Literally. Just sat and watched the door. Even Wanda couldn't draw him away, so she'd been leaning against him the entire time. Talking quietly with each other until Barnes returned and she detached and moved onto Clint.

Clint was in a foul mood, even compared to his previous moods. Which was saying something.

Then everything went quiet for a bit, he went for a walk… not long after he got a bunch of panicked messages from Scott. Begging him to come back. He'd almost walked off into the woods, but Barnes messaged him too and he'd found himself heading back to the villa before he'd really considered his steps.

That's when the bad idea started gaining steam. It was all -

'This is _unfair_!'

'They're unfairly _detaining_ us!'

'They _need_ to-'

'They _should_ do-'

'They _can't_ do-'

He really tried to calm things down, but it was like a runaway train with Wanda firing up Clint and Steve. It had ended with him, Scott and Barnes stood off to one side.

Then Barnes jumped out of the window.

He'd actually considered following.

Shuri's message came back and he breathed easily. That was the end of it right? No way would Wanda go ahead with it. She was furious about it, but then all the anger that she'd been stirring up came around and Steve practically ordered her out because this was their only chance to potentially influence the younger royal without her brother.

Personally, if Sam had to choose to go up against one of the royals, he'd choose T'Challa. But Steve just saw her age and Wanda suggested it.

So. He'd known this was a bad idea.

Knew it in his _bones_.

But like a runaway train, he was just stuck watching it go careening on. He could tell Shuri was unimpressed the second she walked in, but Steve didn't see it. He switched to his 'Aw shucks' look in an attempt to charm her, but that was so not going to work.

"Enjoy."

The door closed quietly, but there was a resounding 'click' that told him it was locked. Then there was an almost slow motion of everyone turning to the TV and Steve panicking. But Wanda had riled up Clint too.

Clint knew stuff had gone on when he wasn't around. Steve had told him to not mention it to any of them, he had grudgingly agreed, for now, but he had told Barnes everything. He was not lying to that man.

So, Clint was pissed, and he wanted to _know_. Scott was looking at the locked door with a forlorn look on his face and Sam wondered for the 100th time, what did he do for his life to be _'THIS'_. He dropped himself onto the sofa to watch, because he knew there was no getting out of this room until they did. The walls were probably vibranium or something.

The fact the video stayed also paused on an empty looking base as Clint and Steve screamed at each other told him that.

Scott appeared next to him, looking at the video pensively and he _snapped_.

"Shut the fuck up! _Both_ of you!"

"Who do you think you're shouting at Wilson?"

"Come on now Sam. This isn't going to help anyone, no one needs to see this."

"See, _that_ right there, that is why I want to see it."

With that Clint dropped down in the loveseat he often shared with Wanda. Leaving just Steve stood behind the chairs.

Apparently that was all it took and the video started. Steve and Barnes walking through the Base.

Stark's _immensely_ dramatic entrance.

The things Barnes said came back to him, Stark stated flat out no one knew where he was. The man laughed it off, but that was a lot of trust to put in a team mate you'd been falling out with.

'Did you really think I wanted more of you?'

Oh great. On top of everything he had to listen to the villain monologuing.

Talking about Steve's eyes like some love lorn teenager.

Why do villains have to do this?

Why must they always make it weird?

He knew Tony found out, Barnes had told him what he remembered, that Stark saw his parents murdered whilst stood near Steve and Barnes. But it didn't quite prepare him to _watch it._ Scott seemed to feel the same given how pale the man was. Clint looked almost confused but he didn't know about what. But he shook his head and the confusion was gone. Steve was stood as far back as possible, back to the TV. As if he could pretend this wasn't happening.

Steve still trying to lie about it? When it was bloody _obvious_. Well, he'd seen enough of that recently not to be shocked.

There were a few points in the fight he flinched, yeah, Stark is in the armour, but the line around his neck slamming him down? He'd bet that did some damage. He's still just a normal human in that armour, and walking tank as Barnes described him or not, having 2 super soldier beat on you can't be fun. The walking tank description only works if Stark used it as one, at ranged fighting Ironman was especially lethal. He knew Barnes and Steve came back bloody but it hadn't taken long for them to heal.

The bunker took a _terrifying_ amount of damage that easily could have been directed at Steve or Barnes. He could have probably have killed them both in the shock after he blasted Barnes arm off.

He thought it would end when Steve's shield smashed into the arc reactor. But he ripped it back out, causing Scott to flinch. He had wondered for a minute, if he'd left it in Stark's chest, because Steve did not come back with it.

"That shield doesn't belong to you, you don't deserve it, my father made that shield."

Ah.

That was when the weight of the armour dropped Stark onto his back and Steve left.

He looked back at Steve who was just staring at him, pleading to see things _'his'_ way. To understand _'his'_ actions. Maybe he could have, but he'd seen Steve fight against a triggered Winter Soldier, that had wanted him dead. He just watched Steve leave Stark there, with no power, injured, in fucking _Siberia_, without even a glance back. No man left behind wasn't just a saying to him. It _meant_ something. To see Captain America leave a person he still claimed as a friend like that? It shattered something inside him.

He just shook his head, because whilst he got the instinct to protect a friend, you don't do it at the cost and suffering of another. Clint looked confused before shaking his head again, then he was back to the anger they'd gotten so used to lately.

"You need to stop lying Steve. Is that why we're here? Why I don't get to see my family? Because you lied about your best bud killing Stark's parents?"

The door clicked open which seemed to save Steve from answering as Clint scoffed and stormed out. Steve eventually left and he just stayed with Scott.

Out of him and Wanda both being grown ass adults, Scott had started to make him feel oddly protective, like he was this perpetual teenager thrown into events too convoluted and terrible for him to comprehend.

At least Barnes wasn't here to watch the video.

Maybe he and Scott should go out tonight, let Steve and Clint deal with Wanda when she got back.

**James POV**

**_8th October_**

All was not well in the Villa.

He'd got back when Tictac and Wings were just getting in. Both were more than a little drunk. Okay, they were trashed. Falling over and laughing at each other. Scott had asked to hug him, he'd even agreed because he looked like a sappy drunk that was going to burst out crying if he said no. He managed to trundle then off to their rooms and was locked behind his own doors before anyway came to investigate the noise.

Usually if anyone was drunk, they'd converge on the drunk member.

That video definitely did something.

He wasn't sure if it was good.

Point being, it hadn't been _his_ idea.

_He_ hadn't been the one to _speak_.

So he'd mostly been freaking out that this thing in his head could apparently take control of him now and talk. That was _new_. Luckily Shuri hadn't noticed that it wasn't him talking.

So he hadn't slept. Not a wink. The back of his mind was quiet, maybe it hadn't realised it could do that? Maybe it had exhausted itself? He didn't know because this was just _too_ _weird_. He snuck out and back for his treatment and was now listening to people in the house.

He heard Wings finally wake up, likely very hungover and stagger downstairs so went to join him.

Which was how he, Wings and TicTac found themselves watching TV, eating porridge waiting to see T'Challa on his interview.

The Witch and her Archer even joined them.

This had been a set event yesterday, he had wondered if watching the video would change anything. Seems everyone still wanted to watch T'Challa have his interview. Although he bet for different reasons. Steve thought he'd bring up the pardons.

Apparently there were no bounds to Steve's optimism when it came to their mythical pardons.

He however, was going where his treatment was. Steve seemed to think if they got pardoned tomorrow, he'd leave with them. As willing as Dr Stark seemed to be to help him, he doubted the man would offer him treatment in the compound, so he was staying where the glasses were.

T'Challa had answered a few questions so far about Wakanda and how amazing it was here. As far as he was concerned, they were not getting across the truly amazing parts of it. But he understood that there were parts of Wakanda they didn't want the world to know about yet. The fact they'd come out to the world about Vibranium and that no, they weren't a tiny village that only made textiles was amazingly brave.

Steve thankfully turned up after 5 minutes of discussing the Accords. That definitely would have riled him up. Everyone was a little sedate, yesterday had taken its toll it seemed. Things were finally starting to stack up and he couldn't find himself feeling bad for them, bar Wings and TicTac, considering how awful they'd been to the man they actually expected to help them.

The video had really changed something though. Everyone was tense, TicTac had also abandoned his chair and was now sat on the floor, practically at his feet. Wings had taken up TicTac's old chair, the 3 of them practically tucked into one corner, the Witch and her archer were still sharing the small loveseat on the other side of the room. Steve flopped into the middle of the larger sofa.

_"I've enjoyed my trips to America so far with the Accords Council, meeting the other councillors has also been good. Everyone has been very accepting of our plans to open up Wakanda slowly, the people I've met have also been most unlike what I suspected." _

_" Ah, I assume you mean Tony Stark? What was it like to get whisked off to dinner with our favourite genius?"_

Oh fuck

He thought to himself, a minute ago he'd been happy Steve had missed the bit on the Accords… He hadn't expected it to come back to Dr Stark. He knew Shuri was friendly with the man, but he didn't know if he and T'Challa were that close.

_" Oh, that was a lot of fun, he told me a lot about what Stark Industries was involved in. "_

_" Yes, here in America everyone always needs the next piece of Stark Tech. "_

Wanda practically growled at the screen, coming to her feet to pace behind the chairs. He was very happy his chair was tilted so he had a good view of the room. The idea of her pacing behind his head was _too_ _much_. He didn't know how Wings and Steve could do it. It had a knock on effect of waking the voice in his mind, its attention on Wanda.

That was when he remembered. The conversation Shuri had had with her brother at the compound. How could he forget?! Shuri had convinced Dr Stark to join T'Challa for it. Ah crap. It was way too late to do anything about it now.

_" We have been surprised lately, Mr Stark seems to be working constantly but he just hasn't been seen much, King T'Challa you've seen more of him than we have lately, how is he recovering?"_

_"My ears were burning."_

He idly considered screaming into a pillow.

At the same time, he couldn't _not_ watch.

Stark, dressed in a black suit and shirt, with a bright silver tie that looked like metal. His sunglasses were the same silver, catching on the studio lights and flashing brightly. There were only two chairs, one for the host and one for T'Challa, yet he confidently strode onto the stage as if he was meant to be there and perched on the hosts desk, crossing his legs at his ankles and leaned back as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do.

'He knows how to command attention.'

Why is he not surprised that its happy about this?This situation was just waiting to explode on them. But sure perv on Stark. That's the important aspect here.

_"Hi." _

_"Mr Stark! We didn't expect to see you today!" _

_"Well, T'Challa spent last night at the compound and mentioned today's little interview, so I thought I'd tag along." _

"T'Challa was at the compound?"

Scott asked, he just shrugged because there was _no way_ of explaining what he knew without inviting a _lot_ more questions.

_"Yes, the compound is absolutely gorgeous, it was lovely having breakfast with the Avengers."_

_"I also heard that you were considering partnering up for some of Mr Stark's initiatives?" _

_"Oh yes, this man's brain is brilliant, he's going to help me get my inventions to where they're needed. At home and abroad." _

_"Dr Stark is also great to work with. Not at all what I expected an American businessman to be like."_

_"What were you expecting? _

_"Profit driven, uncaring and only caring about their own country. Dr Stark is giving his Intellicrops away for free. In areas where children are going blind from lack of Vitamin A, it is a particularly severe problem in populations where rice is the staple food and diversity of diet is limited, as white rice contains no micronutrients. Dr Stark has created a rice variant with added Vitamin A specifically to help these people. "_

"I never knew Stark did things like that, I wonder why he didn't speak about stuff like this? I wi-"

He has been tracking Wanda from when they'd started talking about Dr Stark, when Wings started talking however, her building anger got... redirected. It was almost like he, or the voice in his head, could feel her anger and attention shift onto Wings. He definitely didn't know her well enough to pick up on tells like that, so it was confusing. The information was just suddenly _there_.

He didn't question it however, he just moved and caught her hand a few centimetres from Wings head. Part of him wanted to recoil because her hands were leaking that red shit and it felt like ice on his skin, like the black of cryo sleep, tugging at him.

'Pain to her hands disrupts her ability'

Then it was just there in his mind, he'd been about to pull his hand back to shake off the feeling, his hand moved practically on its own volition and within the second he'd caught her hand, she dropped to her knees, yelling out in pain. The red abruptly vanished, the cold feeling gone with just a small reminder that had him pushing her hand away. She kept eye contact as she very slowly stood, watching him very carefully. Cradling her hand to her chest.

Then she just left. Which was exceptionally weird. Given her patterns, she could have used this to garner sympathy against him. Instead she watched him warily as if he was the danger and backed off, keeping her eyes on his till she passed into the hall. Like watching a predator that's about to eat you.

Wings was a little wide eyed, looking back and forth between himself and the Witches retreating form. He just shot him a smile and turned back to the TV, rubbing his hand on his jeans to get rid of the feeling whilst trying not to freak out because what the fuck just happened?

'You're welcome.'

'What was that?!'

'I showed you how to combat her ability.'

He didn't bother questioning it further, he got a feeling that it was confused at his questions.

_"-uffer from some type of important nutritional deficiency. Biofortified crops are a good alternative to alleviating malnutrition." _

_"And you're giving these crops away?" _

_"Generally, the people who desperately need these crops can't afford them, so it makes sense. If giving away some seeds saves children from living blind because they lack a vitamin that is easy to acquire for us, why wouldn't I?" _

_"I guess-_"

"Bucky? What was that? Why did you hurt Wanda?"

"She's fine. If she wasn't she'd have said something."

He pointedly turned back to the screen as Dr Stark was still speaking. Scott was a little wide eyed, but weirdly, Clint didn't seem to have actually noticed that anything had happened, focused on the TV. Wings looked a little peaked, wide eyed but he refocused on the TV. Steve had his unimpressed face on again, but he could ignore that. He'd recently gotten a lot of practice.

_"I do have a lot focused in America, trying to end food deserts for example. But humanitarian efforts are for humanity." _

_"This is what I was talking about." _

T'Challa was grinning on the TV, both he and Dr Stark were actually. They were having a lot more fun than how awkward this room was that was for sure.

_"So, King T'Challa, how is integration with the world going, from what I've been told your computers don't use the same binary system as the rest of us?" _

_"Oh Dr Stark and our technicians have been working on it night and day. I was pretty sure it was fine several versions ago, but apparently Dr Stark and my sister are perfectionists." _

_"I've had tons of fun working with Princess Shuri, she is brilliant. Even some of the younger interns I have at SI love her."_

"That explains yesterday then."

Clint mutters and glanced around, seemingly only just noticing that Wanda had left, he looked confused for a second before shrugging and focusing back on the TV.

_"I read about your intern project, schools all over the country are involved yes, finding the best and brightest?" _

Because he's interested in what Steve will say, he has to ask.

"What happened yesterday?"

"Oh it was nothing Buck, Princess Shuri just popped over but she couldn't help us with what we talked about. We'll have to wait for T'Challa to come home."

Clint was giving Steve such a look of incredulity that it was hard to keep a straight face.

_"-making a list of schools lacking funding and am now supplying what they need. "_

_"That's very selfless of you."_

_"Na, I just want more scientists in the world." _

T'Challa answered a few questions about Wakanda as a frazzled technician ran out with a chair like the one T'Challa was sat in. Dr Stark thanked them before sitting in the chair next to T'Challa.

_"King T'Challa, are you people excited to rejoin the rest of the world?" _

_"Oh definitely, some of my people have been waiting for this for a long time." _

_"So, Mr Stark, you know the question we want to ask." _

_"Go on, ask about it." _

The tense atmosphere in the room got worse, he was pretty sure he was going to get a migraine.

_"We all saw the picture of you in the hospital. We know you were in a coma. We haven't seen much of you since, so we wanted to know how you've been recovering." _

_"Well, it's been a long road. I'm not at 100%, but I'm working to get there. I might not be in the skies, yet, but there is a lot of work I could do from home." _

The man's scarred arm where it met the black metal of his cybernetic forearm and hand flashed in his mind at that.

'Yeah, definitely not at 100%'

He thought to himself, he couldn't help the stab of guilt, even though Shuri had told him it wasn't his fault. He should have known it would attract the voice.

'You think too much.'

He couldn't really argue that. He did think too much.

_"We've been keeping up with your work, for someone not on the Accords Council, you do a lot of work for them." _

_"Of course. It is an important document, for humans and supers alike. Whilst recovering from my injuries it made sense to focus on it. Just a shame I missed those 10 days in a coma." _

_"Dr Stark seems to never stop working." _

_"Nope, my physio often gets infuriated with me." _

_"Do you mind if we ask what injuries you suffered? You've been very close to the chest about them!"_

Wings and Scott wince at that, maybe he should watch this video, there are bits of the fight.. Missing from his memory.

_"In general people don't think of superheroes getting hurt, so I kept that private. As you can see I'm able to work fine and I'll be flying in no time… but I'll show you one thing." _

Steve was instantly leaning forward, everyone was _very_ focused on the screen, but he had a good idea what the man was going to do. Especially as he stood and nearly folded his suit jacket over the back of the chair. Even the studio was pretty silent as he undid his sleeve, folding it all the way to his elbow. The presenter definitely hadn't been expecting the thick band of scars, they looked a little green actually. It was different than seeing it on the video call, high definition and his arms weren't moving as much now. It was also strange as the scarring looked out of place, the black metal was the same colour as his skin somehow.

"What would cause scarring like that?"

Scott glanced around the room, when he didn't get an answer, the presenter talking pulled his attention back.

_"That's some pretty severe scarring." _

Stark then did something, it looked like he tapped his hand weirdly, with that, the skin seemed to retreat back, leaving the matte black of his actual hand visible. It had actually changed a little since he saw it last night strangely. Two thin, but bright blue lines were now visible. Like last night, he couldn't help the stab in his chest that he'd been part of it, part of the reason another man had metal where flesh would be. Shuri has said that it was different to his arm, but it still wasn't his own flesh hand. It was still something '_other'. _

_"Yeah, the scarring is pretty bad." _

_"I'm guessing that is not a covering, or a glove?" _

_"Nope. After the fight I had severe frostbite, my doctors could do a lot, worked wonders in fact. But they couldn't save everything and my hand, wrist and some of my forearm was amputated."_

"Holy fuck."

He glanced at Wings, he was pretty sure that was the first time he'd heard the man swear.

Part of his inability to sleep had been falling down a path on the internet where he was researching frostbite. So he could get behind the swearing.

_"How has it changed things for you? I don't know if I could carry on fighting after losing a limb! But I am a lefty." _

"Temporarily disabled."

Everyone was pretty shocked that that came from _Clint_ of all people. The man had no love lost for Dr Stark, he'd been quite vindictive in his anger. But now he was looking confused again at the TV.

"How long does it take for frostbite to get that bad?"

Scott asked, glancing around everyone in the room, surprisingly it was Clint again to answer.

" Long enough I guess. But Stark… He _survives_. It's what he _does_, against all odds. He _survives_."

Clint trailed off, muttering whilst staring at the TV, that was a really weird thing to say. But he couldn't puzzle it out.

" I doubt that was from our fight. It was probably something else, he was fine in the armour. He probably didn't spent more than a few minutes there!"

He just gaped, because that's some next level delusion there.

_"I'm ambidextrous, so I still didn't have to learn to use a different dominant hand. But this won't stop me. I'm still Ironman, as long as Ironman is required, he will be there, from domestic terrorism, wildfires, bad guys our police can't fight and if aliens come knocking. I will get back up until I'm physically incapable. And probably try and find a way to anyway. "_

He couldn't do it. He couldn't just let it go anymore. He couldn't let him just sit there and delude himself into thinking that there was no consequences for his actions whilst another man suffered from them.

"Steve, are you seriously thinking that after we abandoned the man in Siberia, with no power that he got home, then got into another fight that left him, with no power in a freezing temperature zone that lead to severe frostbite and a 10 day coma."

_"I guess we should expect such dedication from Ironman by now, after you caught that nuke and flew it into a portal in space, when you did that, did you know you'd be fine?" _

"He was fine when we left Buck!"

"Shut the fuck up Steve. You drove your Vibranium shield into the chest of a man with a compromised sternum. Hard enough to kill an arc reactor. Stark's a dick, but at least fucking own that you nearly killed him and scarred him for life."

Clint didn't even look at Steve as he spoke, obviously as fed up with Steve's excuses. Steve paled further shrinking into the chair.

_"Oh no, I thought it was a one way trip. The blast knocked the power out of my suit, luckily I fell through the portal and The Hulk, my buddy, he caught me." _

"I didn't know."

_"After that I guess missing a hand wouldn't stop you after all?" _

"That's not an excuse for nearly killing and abandoning someone to a slow, agonising death Steve."

Steve full body flinched from Sam's quiet addition, more affected than Clint's angry mutterings. It seemed most of them had hit their limit.

_"Nope, I've always known I could get hurt, but it never stopped me before. It wasn't easy, waking up with a part of you just gone. Sometimes I would wake up and have phantom feelings of it, very strange. If anything it's made me more determined and shown me more people I can help."_

He glanced at the socket Hydra installed, it felt like the arm was still there sometimes. Not his own, but the metal one. Like it was still dragging him down. The fact he was partially responsible for inflicting something similar to someone else, that hurt.

'I do not understand why you hate it so much, to me, it was always my arm.'

'It was painful, heavy and maintenance was...'

Thankfully it didn't push him further, he didn't like thinking of maintenance sessions.

_"That's, that must have been hard to deal with. Is this why you have gotten more involved with disabilities and prosthetics?" _

"I know what it's like to wake up and find metal instead of flesh. _We_ did that to him."

_"Partially, I'm sure you know about James Rhodes accident too? After that I started doing research, found out that a lot of people who need disability aids are left unable to get them. When I woke up from the coma, missing my left hand, it sharpened it more. Trying to do things one handed? Not as easy as it seemed. Now I had the contacts and ability to build this for myself, with Shuri in Wakandas help. She helped me through a lot in those early days. When I was back up to two hands I decided to change the disability aids industry. "_

"Shuri helped give him his hand back? Did she tell you anything about it Buck? About what made him lose it? "

"Steve come on. You _know_ why he lost it. Frostbite is terrifying and I imagine for a man like him, a man who works with his hands? Lying there, _dying_ in that frozen wasteland, _alone_, just feeling parts of his body slowly die. That's fucking _torture_ and _WE_ are responsible. _YOU_ need to accept it and stop looking for an easy out. And don't you dare say what we did was fine 'cause he was _'trying to kill me'_. If he wanted us dead, we'd be dead."

_"-es are expensive, not updated often and for many, hard to acquire. Children wearing prosthetics they've grown out of, powered chairs on the edge of falling apart, ancient crutches that cause more pain than they help. "_

_" You seem quite passionate about this Mr Stark. "_

"Buck, come on.. "

_" I've come to see Dr Stark is quite passionate about many things, helping people seems to drive Dr Stark as much as it does Ironman. "_

"No. Steve you _need_ to accept this. You need to accept the consequences of your actions and stop running around thinking everything is fine because you're doing the _right thing. _People died because of us. A man has at least one amputation that we know off, maybe other injuries we can't see. "

That made Steve pale, as if he hadn't considered that there might be other injuries.

_"For this instance, It's definitely a case of having my eyes opened. Watching Rhodey not be able to go to his favourite shop because there is a step I never even noticed, or spend 40 minutes waiting for an empty lift. I didn't realise how inaccessible the world was, so I'd like to do my part to change that."_

" He was fine when we left, still talking... "

_"Well, that certainly is a good goal! We are actually out of time for today, hopefully we can get the two of you back someday. I have a feeling that Mr Stark and King T'Challa partnering up will lead to amazing things for our planet_!"

"His pain tolerance is on par with you Cap, but he's not a super soldier to back it up. I saw that fight, I'd be surprised if you didn't break his collarbone as well as fucking up his chest."

Clint was apathetic in his delivery, Wings winced and TicTac look green. Steve... The idiot was just shaking his head.

_"So, can you feel with it?" _

_"Sort of, not the way a real hand does. It's wired directly into my nerves, so I get input, hot and cold. Some textures, it's more information in my mind than feeling." _

Steve stood, looking for all the world that he was going to cry, but until he stopped making this about him, he had no sympathy.

_"That is amazing, thank you Mr Stark for crashing my show." _

The presenter winked at him before turning to T'Challa and crossing his hands over his chest.

Steve practically fled the room. Clint stood and followed at a more sedate pace without another word. He hoped some of what he'd said got through to the thick headed punk. But somehow, he doubted it..

The room was silent for about thirty seconds as the three of them judy looked at each other and burst out laughing as the tension snapped. They needed to get something out, even though they had no idea what they were laughing at, just that the tense atmosphere was gone, leaving them almost giddy.

"Okay, who thinks we should possibly get rid of the TV?"

He didn't know if he was joking or being serious…

For the rest of the day, he avoided the Villa. Steve wanted to talk to him, and he was officially fed up of Steve revisionist ways. It was getting hard to trust anything he said hearing him try to justify Dr Stark's injuries as not his fault, especially when he felt so guilty over them.

He and Shuri did discuss how that video had shaken things up in the house, as well as his little clash with the Witch. She had been caught up in the integration however so he had eventually moved to the library. Out of everyone who could be hunting him out, he had not expected T'Challa to turn up out of the blue.

"Your interview was interesting."

"Did they all watch it at the villa? Oh dear. It wasn't my idea for Tony to join me, you can blame any following chaos on my sister."

"I will make sure to tell her that."

T'Challa just shook his head and pulled an envelope out of his pocket before handing it over. Which was curious, who would be sending him letters? Especially given the envelope was completely blank but sealed.

"I'm going to get some sleep now. America is _exhausting_."

When the king was gone he pulled the letter out and couldn't be more shocked really.

_James_

_So, I wasn't really expecting this so I wasn't exactly sure how to respond. And the fact that I'm being forced to write on paper, instead of digital, because then Shuri will psychoanalyse me.. Not helping. _

_But you made the effort, I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to apologise, but I'm grateful for it, Thank you. No one has really done that before. _

_It was a cascading situation where each part flew out of control before we even realised it, a runaway train full of fireworks that just so happened to be on fire as it fell off a cliff… I tried to stop it, but, well, you know how that turned out. _

_Before Siberia I had worked out a pardon and such for you but Roge-_

_Ignore that. I'm trying to not be negative, or at least not mentioning a certain spangled man who shall not be named, and this is the last clean paper in my pad!_

_So, Thank you for apologising, it's nice to hear it from someone, even though you didn't have control of your act3, you never lied to me. Even though you barely knew me, you told the truth when I asked. Unlike someone who was meant to be my frie_

_I don't want this dragging anyone down, so it's an event better left for the past? It's not selfish to apologise I don't think? It made me feel better. But I say that just before I say sorry for attacking first, asking questions later. __The only one that deserved that was Ro __So maybe I'm the selfish one here. I mean, I should have had more control over myself really. _

_T'Challa told me something similar, that I was _temporarily disabled_, so it's not on either of you, yeah? You didn't know, so you aren't at fault. Plus, I'm alive! Insert Frankenstein like cackling here._

_I really am sorry for my part in the fight.. You didn't deserve that. You had come out of the other side of decades of torture and was welcomed with a superhero smackdown. _

_And your arm! I took that thing apart, to send the data to Shuri for any help the Wakandans can give you. You _felt_ that, I'm so sorry. I know that the arm hurt, I could see it when I took it apart. But it didn't have to! I know you are probably still in pain too, I know when you have been in pain for so long it becomes normal? But it _isn't_, I know I'm not anyone important in your life, but tell someone about the pain, Shuri probably would help in a heartbeat. She has a soft spot for broken white boys. I won't take that choice from you though, but just don't hide the pain, you don't deserve to suffer in silence. _

_By the time you get this, if you watched King Kitty on TV, my hand doesn't hurt, it feels like my hand because we worked out a way of wiring it.. Not important or I'll science babble at you. Always drives people nuts. But if you even want an arm, Shuri can help. It will be different, no pain and it will feel like your arm. Not a foreign thing. I hope you can forgive me for my part, and that BARF (It is a cool name, no matter what anyone says) can be my way of making it up to you. _

_Also, it isn't your fault I lost my hand, I shouldn't have scrubbed my location or I should have had some back up plan. Escaping is what I do after all, so, again, not your fault, you didn't have a choice but to fight back because of the programming alright? Let's blame the cold for my injuries and the unnamed spangled git. (ugh, ignore that, I shouldn't trash on your best friend, I'm trying to not be a dick here.) _

_So, I hope BARF is helping. I'm glad you find my coding notes amusing. There are many who say you can't use potato to test everything. They just aren't imaginative enough. _

_-TS_

_Also, what's with everyone suddenly calling me doctor?! It's weird. Call me Tony. _

Well, that definitely hadn't been what he was expecting. He seemed to write as he spoke, which was quite strange, like he had 5 topics he wanted to talk about at once so they jumbled up but it oddly worked.

Even the scratched out parts, that's when he realised that the back wasn't clear as he held the letter up to the light to try and read what he had started to write about the pardons. He turned it over there was a number of what could potentially be called doodles, but really _fancy_ doodles with occasional utterly confusing math attached, and he was really good at math, had to be to be a good sniper in the 40s. Something about what looked like someone's homework and trajectory or something, with little birds drawn.

He really hoped Dr Stark hadn't accidentally sent him something important like his kids homework. The birds were really cute though.

He was assuming not as it had been jotted down sort of on the corner. Maybe showing someone? There was a sketch of a woman with red lipstick that was pulling on his memory for some reason, which was odd. He stopped to sift through the Bucky memories to find a match and then saw a memory of Peggy. The likeness was amazing.

Then there were several small sketches of what looked like braces. There was also a cat, randomly. No, two different cats. Chasing things around the margins.

It was slightly confusing to look at it all at once and he wondered if this was how the man's brain worked? If it was, his brain was utter chaos.

Considering he had a second possibly person in his head, _he_ found it confusing.

Also, there was his name. James. It felt.. Different.

Now what was he meant to do?

There was a lot to unpack here...

Should he reply?

Had he inadvertently become penpals with Ironman?


	19. Chapter 19 - Choices

**Barnes POV**

**_12th October_**

It had been 3 days of BARF now with Dr Stark running and guiding his adaptive programme instead of just using an algorithm, Shuri acted as a go between, texting the man, and messages occasionally popped up on his screen. Well, more floating in front of him in a weird way.

On more than one occasion the random jokes or images he had sent to him had pulled him back from the edge of a panic attack. How Dr Stark seemed to just be able to tell he was close to panicking from the other side of the world, he had no idea. He'd say the glasses told him, but Shuri got the same read outs and she couldn't predict them.

Dr Stark had asked for data on the memories attached to the words for a theory he was working on based on the stages of brainwashing.

Honestly, _stages_. He hadn't realised that brainwashing was a thing that had actual stages. He'd considered looking it up himself and Dr Stark told him to look up something nice instead, leave the depths of Hydra to him for a change. That he'd done more than enough.

He still hadn't responded to the amusing letter, or mentioned it to anyone, it was tucked into his notebook, he liked the drawings and the thing in the back of his head seemed to like _anything_ related to Dr Stark.

'I know you're still ignoring me, but can you stop calling me it?'

Oh. Thinking on it, if the presence in his mind wasn't just his sanity melting away, he'd been a bit of a dick.

'What do you want me to call you?'

He got confusion and a bit of panic back, and damned if he didn't know what _that_ felt like.

'Hey hey, its okay. I didn't really know what I wanted to be called either.'

'At least you have many options.'

'True, but nothing really jumped out. The best I have so far is most people calling me Barnes. I like Wolf however, and James. _Anything_ is better than Bucky.'

'What about Winter Soldier? Or Soldat?'

'The Russian for soldier?'

'Yeah.'

'Why don't you pick one, we'll try it, if you like it then keep it? You can try others? Winter isn't bad.'

'Does this mean you'll stop ignoring me now?'

He wasn't sure about that, it was really weird to be talking to a person in his head but he figured he could make an effort. His intention must have carried through as he felt a happiness from it. Maybe he could do it. Although he was still not telling anyone.

'Also If you ever take control again, at least pretend to be me?'

'Otlichno. Fine.'

Figuring that's the best he's going to get, he finished dressing for the day and headed home for food and to head to his BARF session.

Since the video viewing, the house was.. fractured. But Steve apparently still wanted people to be present at meals. This was adhered to much less now, but Wanda seemed to have pulled Steve and Clint back together, somehow. The two had returned to talking to each other a lot faster than he would have assumed, given how enraged the Archer was at everything. Attacking the interview they'd watched had become a popular conversation, even though he, Wing's and TicTac never joined in.

Also the Witch had been avoiding him like the plague, anytime they shared a room she became quiet withdrawn and watched him intently. Occasionally rubbing her wrist. He wasn't sure why she was so intent on him, it felt like more than just that one incident, yet they'd never met before.

He shook his head and entered the kitchen, Wings was cooking again with TicTac helping. It had become his routine to help the two now, especially after he baked muffins last night. His therapist wanted him to try more hobbies, baking seemed a good choice, even though he was pretty sure Wings suggested it to get free baked goods. He liked the precise measurements, instructions and easy results that were also tasty. Although he was avoiding most American recipes, he'd spent an hour trying to work out different conversions of cups before nearly putting his fist through the wall. Grams were much easier to understand.

Just as he'd finished up, the Witch and the Archer headed towards the front door, the Archer nodding to Steve. It was an odd interaction but as he was leaving in 5 minutes, he could ignore it. He ignored most of what they three got up to.

"Hey Buck, I can come with you today for your session if you like?"

Huh?!

"Steve.. I thought you can't, you know.. Leave the house?"

"I can for today, so I can come and see this treatment you've been doing. You've been going a while now and I don't think it's having good results so I want to check on it. Make sure nothing bad is going on behind the scenes."

He's not sure which feeling is stronger, a sense of betrayal from T'Challa or concern. He isn't mad at the king, Steve was like water wearing down rock. It made sense, he'd eventually give in, Steve was his to deal with anyway and it was pretty unfair of him to dump it on T'Challa.

But would Steve recognise the tech? Even if he covers up the Stark Industries logo? He lived with the man for years so he assumes he would know his style.

"I don't know Steve, this is kind of a me thing, ya know? Like something I have to do alone."

"I get that Buck and I'll be there to help you, together, like we always were."

Now he knows that he and lil Stevie were together a lot, but he also damned well knows that they spent some time apart too. He's not sure where Steve is getting this completely idolised version of him. When people die, friends and family tend to eulogize them. Gloss over the traits they didn't like, reframe events. He's not sure when Steve did this, was it after the train or after he woke up in the future, but it's starting to annoy him. Even if he reverted to the old Bucky right now, it wouldn't be enough for Steve. He didn't know how to tell the man that this Bucky he'd built up in his head probably never existed, what happened to him that he made up this perfect Bucky?

It was like he was being set up for failure.

"I don't know Steve, I don't really like the idea of anyone seeing what I did at Hydra."

"You didn't do anything, you were forced, why are you going through those memories anyway?! Who the hell thought that was a good idea, isn't that traumatic?"

"Steve it's how the tech works, it helps me disassociate a memory as I go through it instead of waiting years. It's amazing Steve, I've really been improving."

"Gotta tell you Steve, that does sound good, disassociating traumatic memories in a controlled condition like that? That's amazing. With PTSD people can be hit with memories decades after the trauma, as fresh as if it happened yesterday. What Barnes is describing is a damned miracle."

"But the words are still there."

"They're being worked on, my brain is not like most people's anymore, Hydra basically rewired me. They have their best people working on it."

Clint strolled back and waved at Steve as he jumped up and slipped his coat on.

"See ya later Cap."

"Fine, I'll come along today and see what it's like. Maybe you'll convince me that it's good."

"Alright, let's walk to the train I guess."

His shoulders slumped slightly as Steve starts walking to the door, Wings and TicTac both look upset but seem utterly stuck for what to do. He shrugged at them and trudged out, he glanced next to the door to see if one of his favourite guards were on duty, but was shocked to find no one there.

"That's weird."

"What's that Buck?"

"No one is guarding the door."

"Oh it's probably just a shift change, you usually leave earlier so you don't see it."

"Oh, okay."

It still seemed weird but he guessed a guard change made sense, where else would they be? He was also feeling kind of depressed himself now, he didn't know why such a simple thing like Steve accompanying him to his session was knocking him. But then he'd only just started getting used to having choices.

Sure, they'd been terrifying at first. He'd almost longed for the simplicity of being the Asset. He never made choices back then, he was given strict mission parameters to fulfil. He either succeeded and he would go back into cryo. Or he failed, then he would be punished before going back into cryo. It was easy in a way. The only choices he got was on his gear, and that was only picking items left out for him. Usually he picked everything he could possibly carry.

But then he'd had _choices_. Real choices, and it had been so easy to let Steve make them for him. To be the Bucky he told him to be… easy, but it was _exhausting_. Wearing a mask all the time. Plus, he kept screwing up.

Slowly he started making his own choices, even if they were un-Bucky like, it was terrifying but it was exhilarating. Then he realised that he _liked_ making terrifying choices. But Steve had just taken it from him, without even noticing what he was doing. Yeah, it was out of concern for him, but if he'd just listen to him, he'd realise this therapy was _good_.

He was also scared he'd recognise it as Dr Stark's and somehow stop him from going. Take it away from him.

"You know Buck, you should come to more team meals."

"I come to a few meals, but occasionally I have other people who invite me to dinner."

"You don't have to do what they want you to do, just because they're royalty you know, you can say no. I mean it's the least T'Challa could do after accusing you of murder and trying to kill you."

The irony of Steve lecturing him about saying no when he never pays attention to his no's is not lost on him.

"I like spending time with Shuri or T'Challa. I also see other people too, there are several Dora I see. They respect it when I tell them no."

"Why would spend time with the guards? Plus, T'Challa seems to be falling for Tony's lies, I thought Wakanda would be good for us, but they're so restrictive!"

"Steve, we're wanted fugitives and they're letting us stay here for free, in a gorgeous house with amazing amenities."

"It's nothing compared to the tower, or the compound. You'll love it when we get back!"

"Back?"

"Yeah, when we get our pardons, you can see how different it is. Especially the gear! It's great, and Tony will probably make you an arm considering Shuri hasn't."

"I asked her not to remember, she's offered it for me. I said no. Also, why do you want to go back to Dr Stark's home? I thought you guys didn't like him. Plus after Siberia I don't think he'll want us there."

"Oh, it'll be fine, Wanda can help Tony see the error of his ways, he'll apologise and vetting will go back to how it once was. This new team will be likely be disbanded too. Some of them could stay, but I don't like the look of some of them, _especially_ that Sorcerer. Plus, with Wanda we won't _need_ that Sorcerer."

Again, the mention of the Witch has him feeling cold and nauseated. He still isn't even sure why, yeah, she's a powerful telekinetic, but he's sure he's gone up against powered people before. Plus, get a telekinetic distracted, spot their tell. Easy. So why does the little Witch fill him with such dread? Why does the voice in his head, who is afraid of no one, why is he scared of her? He's not even sure how Wanda can show Dr Stark the _error of his ways._ She obviously despises the man and she has so little emotional control he can't see a conversation between them going well, at all.

"I don't think it will go like that, plus Wanda and Clint are very aggressive and insulting, that's not good for a team."

"You don't know what Tony has done. What he's like. He probably doesn't even care about what they say."

True, he didn't know Dr Stark well. They'd exchanged letters and now the messages in the glasses. So it wasn't exactly _a lot_. But he'd been very friendly, kind even. Talking him down, giving him techniques to avoid panic attacks. After he'd apologised, he'd thanked him and told _him_ that he didn't want _him_ feeling guilty. It didn't add up.

They were getting closer to Shuri lab and he spotted Onyenka just outside and smiled brightly, waving at the woman. She waved back before her brow wrinkled in confusion. He knew he was running late but he had been a few minutes late before and everyone had been fine. She shot him another smile before fiddling with her beads.

"You have to say you want me to come with you or they might not let me in."

"What?"

Before he got an answer from Steve, Shuri appeared in the door, looking very annoyed at Steve.

"Mr Rogers. You are not meant to be here. You are not allowed to leave the villa."

"I know, but T'Challa said it's fine if Bucky wants me in his therapy."

Shuri switched her gaze to him, head tilting.

"Is that what you want White Wolf?"

"Of course he does."

"I wasn't talking to you Captain Coloniser!"

She snapped at Steve harshly and suddenly there were a lot more Dora around them. Eyes locked on Steve.

"Steve, I told ya, I'd rather do this alone. Plus, you _lied_ to me."

"I didn't Bucky, T'Challa told me if you ever wanted me to come, I was allowed out."

"But that's not what happened. You manipulated me and tried to force my hand by putting me on the spot! I'm going in, alone."

With that Shuri moved aside so he could walk into the lab, Steve tried to follow but was immediately stopped by the Dora. Shuri closed the doors before he could say anything. Dammit, he and Steve had been clashing sure, but this is the first time he felt so… _hurt_ over what he had done.

Shuri looked absolutely furious and was speaking in fast paced Xhosa into her beads, so he hung back. After she was done, she wipes the anger and irritation from her face and focuses entirely on him for his BARF session, he had a few messages queued up on the glasses as he turned them on, apparently Dr Stark had made him a new screen saver and wanted to see if he liked it.

After his session he couldn't help but grin happily at the different types of birds that were fluttering around Shuri's lab. He tells Shuri to text him and say it's his best idea yet. A message popped up in front of him thanking him for complementing his birds, Shuri was still grinning like a loon when he shouldered his bag to head back to the villa. He wasn't looking forward to seeing Steve again after this morning, but it's not like he can avoid the villa forever. At least he isn't staying for dinner today.

Steve is absent when he returns to the Villa, he even gets to eat his lunch in peace with Wings. TicTac was on another photography mission and apparently Steve and Clint were with Wanda in her room. He considered asking Wings why and then decides that he really didn't want to jinx it. Especially as Wings could be quite pleasant dinner company. He was interested in the Wakandan therapist he was seeing.

It's obvious to him that Wings misses his job something terrible. Giving up counselling to save the world was one thing. Giving it up to be stranded here, as an international fugitive? Hiding isn't anything new to him, or TicTac it seems. But to Wings, it's definitely hurting the man. So instead of vanishing after food to kill time before meeting up with Shuri, he decided to watch a movie with the man.

He's not sure what he's done to wrong Wings, but at the end of Homeward Bound, he had considered punting the man out of the window. He should not be nearly crying, but it was an evil… Evil film. Even the voice in his head was caught up with the dog trapped in the mud..

"Put something happy on next, please?"

"Fine, I'll search for something, why don't you tell me about the tech that helps you disassociate memories. I've been thinking about it all day."

"Well, it's these glasses, and they isolate all your traumatic memories, then you pick one. Play it whilst this really complicated code runs, then in 2 or 3 watches, sometimes all I do is watch, ya know. Other times I can influence the memory, make it change. Then it dissociate and feels kind of different in my head, I'm probably explaining this badly. Some sessions I do several memories at once. "

" Man that is amazing, I hope this becomes widespread one day. It would have been so useful back at the VA "

Clint and Wanda drop into their love seat and he really doesn't want to talk about his therapy with them there, Wings doesn't even seem to notice them.

" So what's it called anyway. Does it even have a name or is it a prototype"

"Umm, RFG. Retroframing Glasses. I have some documents that explained everything if you like. The maker wanted me to be comfortable knowing no one could mess with my mind. They made their jobs harder just so I was comfortable with it."

He nearly called it BARF. He didn't know if searching for BARF would bring them up. Which was a shame, as unlike Shuri, the name has grown on him and he found it hilarious. Not that he would ever tell anyone that of course.

"That is so amazing, we are so lucky Shuri knew who to contact to get you this treatment. Hey, if you don't mind, maybe ask if I could talk to them sometime over it?"

"Sure, I don't see why not, maybe I could get some information for you?"

And he would scour everything for any mention of Dr Stark. Although he was considering bringing Wings in on the secret after all, he was so excited about it.

Then Steve arrives and with it a wave of exhaustion slams into him. He just ignored the man and snagged the remote that Wings had abandoned. Not that he knows what any of these films are, he just doesn't want to talk to Steve about his lies this morning and Wings was distracted with his tablet.

He was flicking through films, waiting for something to jump out at him when he actually caught a glimpse at Wings tablet.. And a picture of the BARF glasses was on the screen and he was reading about them.

Oh fuck.

Sam's eyebrows have knit together and he looks confused and there we go, he's watching the video of Stark talking about the glasses at MIT. Shit.

"Yes those are the glasses, please don't -"

Wanda is suddenly right there and then snatches Wings tablet off of him before he could react. Wings jumps up to try and get it back and immediately Clint jumps in the way followed by Steve. Practically creating a wall between Wanda and them.

"Steve, did you know that the _'treatment'_ Bucky has been getting comes from _Stark_?"

She flashes him a triumphant look that turns all concerned when Steve turns.

'Who cares if they know Feniks is helping us.'

'Because they're going to draw all the wrong conclusions! To try and keep it from us!'

Then he gets a long, graphic list of expletives in Russian, and at least 3 other languages too. Considering he tends to swear a lot, and even _he_ is trying to keep his eyebrows down as the… Soldat... Damn he needs a better name… gets quite into his swearing.

'Wow. That was.. Some impressive usage of swearing.'

'Thank you. Now, pay attention when there are enemy combatants in the room rebenok. child.

It would be childish to repeat that in an amusing voice. The only reason he doesn't do it is Steve, Clint and the Witch seem to be done screaming about Stark and are now turning to him. Wings has actually moved to stand in between him and the others.

"Steve, can't you see? This is good. Stark has obviously known where we are for a while and he hasn't turned us in. He obviously knows Barnes is here and he's actively _HELPING_ him!"

"We don't know that Sam, this might be some revenge plot where Stark is punishing Bucky!"

"Steve! I've read about this tech, it's good, it's helping tons of people!"

"Stark is probably trying to brainwash Bucky! See Steve, you knew something was wrong, this is all Stark's doing. He's killing your Bucky slowly and replacing him!"

Sam and the Witch are on either side of Steve in a weird parody of a devil and an angel on his shoulder. The Witches story is beyond ridiculous but he can see Steve swaying towards her. He hates the tech that he doesn't even know about, so he's will to go with her utterly ridiculous crap because it supports his idea.

"Punk, I _know_ what brainwashing feels like, I _know_ what it's like to be made and remade, to be wiped and rebuilt. These glasses are _helping_ me!"

"But you would say that Bucky. Stark is making you say that. Can't you see, Steve just wants to help you be the _real you_ again."

He can't help but gape at Wanda, who is trying to look as if she cares, to him it's just ridiculous, but he'd underestimated how manipulative she was, especially when Clint seems to follow up too perfectly.

"Yeah Bucky. How can you let something Stark made into your mind, did you even know it was him? Shuri has been lying to you!"

"Of course I knew Dr Stark was behind the tech. His name is literally on the glasses. The man went to great lengths to make sure I was comfortable and that no one can use the glasses to d-"

"So you knew that Stark knew we were here? You've been lying for ages to protect Stark! Steve, would _your_ Bucky do that? Lie to you to protect someone like Stark? Of all people!"

Shit, he should have seen that trap, but there was no was to answer it that didn't benefit them. She'd have attacked either answer.

"Hey, Barnes is trying to get treatment, he's well enough to make his own choices. If he trusts Stark tech, then it's up to him."

Wanda hands flare red when Wings snaps back at her and all arm bells are going off in his head and he is suddenly thrown back. Looking out from his eyes but he can't seem to move. He hears himself speak but the small Russians lilt he carried is suddenly a lot deeper.

"Hvatit! Ved'ma!" Stop! Witch!

Wanda flinched and steps back before she realised what she was doing, then she stepped back her magic flooding into the room and his head is killing him, he wants to curl up and clutch his head but he stands straight as if utterly unaffected. But he knows the Soldat.. Winter is hurting too, he can feel his energy waving as he holds up against the flood of pain. When it reaches the socket he collapsed back and he's in control again. He yelled out to him instinctively.

'Winter?!'

He gets no response and for some reason, Steve is looking at him in concern.

"What's wrong Bucky?"

"Her magic, it's hurting me!"

"I don't think it's that Bucky, no one else is in pain. I bet it's the glasses! You're fighting free from them, so they're hurting you!"

"Punk, the glasses don't hurt me, they don't control me, they let me disassociate traumatic memories! That's it! I'm not _'fighting'_ them."

"But you don't know that Buck, you don't know Tony like we do. He wanted to kill you in the bunker, this is him trying to get his revenge!"

"By making me fucking happy? By making me sleep better? By giving me the agency to make my own choices? That's some weird ass revenge!"

"But don't you see Bucky, he is killing you. He's killing the _real_ you. Steve if you let this continue, Stark will slowly kill your best friend and turn him into this angry stranger. Weren't you saying that he's not acting like Bucky? And the Russian? That's not Bucky. Plus Steve, he scared me, he hurt me for no reason the other night!"

"Steve, tell me you aren't buying this shit? I have been speaking Russian for 7 fucking decades, sorry if I happen to like the language!"

"See Steve, Bucky never argued with you like this. You were the leader and he followed you. Trusted your decisions. Stark has made him not trust you."

"How would you know what I was like?! Look, Dr Stark is _helping_ me. I'm sorry if you don't like that Steve. But it's my choice."

"Why are you calling him 'Dr Stark'? has he already turned you into his little pet?"

Oh great. The Archer just had to jump back in.

"I call him that because it's his name and title? It's called trying to be _polite_."

"His title is The Merchant of Death!"

"That's a bit long for my tastes, I think I'll stick to calling the man giving me my life back Dr Stark. Spasibo Thanks."

"Look. Steve. How about I look into this? Barnes has already said he'd send me the files over. I'm _actually_ qualified, unlike _others_ in this room. If Shuri, heck, if Stark is up for it. I'll chat to them too. That way I can find out about it okay?"

"I don't know Sam, I think there's already damage done t-"

"Are you going calling me damaged goods Steve? Cause I fucking hope not or I'll lay you out! Ti menia dostal! I've had enough of you!"

"See Steve. Bucky would never threaten you like this. Stark's glasses are just like the chair, it's wiping him and making him hate you."

How the fuck does she know about the chair?!

"Buck, Wanda has some good points. You are being awfully defensive about this."

"That's because you won't listen! That's it, I'm leaving, I'll come back later and we can discuss this when you have calmed down. Wings can explain why it's helping me."

"If he keeps getting the treatment Steve, everyday you're losing Bucky.. He's slipping through your fingers. You can't let him go."

With that Clint moved to the door, locking it and blocking its path. Steve grabbed his shoulders and got right in his personal space and he can feel a panic attack just under his skin, he needs out, he needs to run. Now.. It doesn't help that the voice is silent. Winter.. He was weak from standing up against the Witches powers.

"Let me go Steve."

"Steve, you need to let him go now, he's having a panic attack!"

"Bucky is fine, I'm here for him. This is Stark's doing! I can't believe I didn't notice sooner!"

"Steve, if you hold him, I can check for any tampering Stark has done to his brain."

"Now hold on. Steve, let Barnes go. Stop and think. This is wrong, you can't do that without his consent!"

"But he can't consent Sam, Stark has robbed it from him, I'm just going to heal him.."

With that his vision went to gray as an explosion rocks the room.

**Shuri POV**

"Bana-phrionnsa!"

"Oh Hi CERBERUS, I didn't realise you were running in the integration pathway."

"CeannardChief has taken a special interest in you and Madadh-allaidhWolf. My protocols are to protect those in my remit. I have added the both of you."

"Aw, that's so sweet CERBERUS, does Tony know?"

"No, Ceannard has not realised I can do this yet. But you must get to the villa IMMEDIATELY. The Rouge Avengers have discovered where Madadh-allaidh's treatment hails from. They are building into an argument that if my predictions are right will result in unfavourable outcomes."

"CERBERUS, can you transfer to my beads?"

"Of course Bana-phrionnsa, I will keep you updated."

With that she grabbed her new favourite weapons and dashed from her lab, the Dora falling in around her immediately without explanation.

"What's happening CERBERUS?"

"The Scarlet Witch seems to be suggesting that Ceannard is using BARF to brainwash Madadh-allaidh. Sam Wilson is arguing in his defence."

Oh great. The Witch just had to be involved. There were still serious unknowns when it came to her powers, even with information Tony had sent over, the guards on the house this morning just _decided_ to leave their shift early, creating a gap that allowed Rogers to leave. She had no idea how and they had no _proof_ it was her as the outside of the house was not recorded. T'Challa was away at the moment and she was not sure about moving against them with such a huge unknown that they did not know how to combat. They'd been informed about the increased surveillance outside of the villa however.

"Things are escalating Bana-phrionnsa."

"Is Wolf hurt?"

"No, but he is growing seriously distressed and predictions based on the Scarlet Witches profile are not favourable."

She jumped off the train and ran with everything she had. She had 8 Dora around her now and a few more had arrived at the Villa who were waiting for her. The building came into sight and she was steps from the door when CERBERUS's voice grew panicked.

"Madadh-allaidh is having a panic attack, the Scarlet With has threatened to use her ability on him. The door is locked and blocked by Hawkeye. Ceannard had noted that trapping him is to be avoided at all costs as it could trigger considerable stress or pre-programmed reactions from Hydra."

That was the last surge she needed as she dashed into the house, the Dora were just as angered as she was. Her White Wolf had charmed many and they'd become fiercely protective of the man. She didn't bother trying to unlock the door, she used her vibranium claws to shred the lock and kicked the door inwards. Sending Barton flying in a whirlwind of shattered wood. It also was a distraction enough for her and several of the Dora to launch themselves across the room.

Sam was trying to put himself directly between the Witch and Barnes who was limp, being held up by Steve's hands, even as Sam was trying to get him to let go. The Witch and The Captain were yanked back by several guards a peice, weapons at their throats. One of the guards on the Witch deployed a non lethal, but painful electric shock to the Witches hands. Shuri had seen how Wolf caused her pain to her pressure points, how it disrupted her ability. She helped him stand as he was slowly coming back to himself. She half dragged him with help out into the hall, where his breathing evened out and he eventually managed to stand on his own. No longer having the exits blocked eased the strain on him. Tony had been very specific in telling them not to trap him, in anyway, even superficially, the fact that he had a panic attack instead of outright attacking was actually good news for their brainwashing treatment.

"Princess Shuri! What is the meaning of this?!"

"I don't know how they do it in America Mr Rogers, but in Wakanda, we take the safety of our guests very seriously!"

"Bucky was safe! He was fine!"

"He was literally having a panic attack!"

"That's because of that Stark tech you've been using on him! You do realise that Stark has been tricking you into brainwashing him right? Or are you in on it too?"

Wanda was gasping slightly, Rubbing her hands but she was still capable of spewing bullshit to rile up the captain it seems.

"_No one_ is brainwashing me. They're helping me! Why can't you see that!"

"It's OK Buck, we'll help you, I promise."

"Steve, I don't need help on this you patronising ass. Princess can we go to that film you wanted to see early."

"Of course White Wolf, let's go."

"I'm going to fetch my bag. Wings, I'm going to send you the information. Steve, please, I'm begging you, read it. Will you do that for me?"

"Of course Bucky, I'd do anything for you."

"When you're acting normal again and you've read the documents tell Wings. He'll call me back. Alright?"

With that he jogged upstairs. She didn't want him to come back here. The way the Dora looked around, they didn't want him to come back here either. She decided that she would have one of the guest rooms at the Palace prepared. If he did not need it, that was fine. But it was there incase he did. As there were no other guests due soon, he would also have the large kitchen, dining and common area all to himself. Barnes came back into view and Rogers struggled to move towards him, but the weapons at his throat didn't budge.

"Buck, wait! Don't go. You don't have to leave. Stay and we'll talk about this!"

"After what just happened, I need to not be here right now Steve. I can't believe you did that to me."

"Did what? Buck I didn't do anything!"

"Steve, you held me in place so the Ved'ma could do some kind of _'fixing magic'_ to my brain. After _everything_ I've been through, and _you_ did that to _me_.."

"Buck she was just trying to help you, you don't understand right now because what the glasses have done to -"

"The glasses are helping me Steve. You held me down and tried to force magic on me!"

"Buck, It's just Wanda, she's family, you can trust her."

"Well I don't."

Clint groaned and sat up. Confused for a few seconds until he seemed to catch up with what was happening.

"Don't trust our Wanda but you fucking trust Stark? A man you barely know who tried to kill you last time you met?"

"Yeah. I do."

"You're definitely fucked in the head mate."

"Come on White Wolf. Let's get you outside."

"Princess Shuri, until I've made a decision he'll be stopping the treatment."

"If our Wolf wants to continue treatment, he can. That it's helping him work through severely traumatic memories. That he has been through the better part of a century of nigh on constant trauma. That _of course_ he won't immediately be exactly as he was in the 40s. That he is different to how you wish, does _not_ mean he is brainwashed. "

"Princess, you know what happened in Siberia! You know what he did to him! How can you let Tony do this to him now? He is innocent!"

"How can I _let_ Dr Stark dedicate himself to helping him? How can I _let_ Dr Stark send the most advanced pair of BARF on the market to help him? How can I _let_ him pour countless hours of work in? Easily. That's how."

"But you don't know what he's doing to him! You're just a kid, you can't understand someone like Tony! He's not a good man, he doesn't just do things to help people for no reason!"

She shakes her head and prods Wolf towards the door.

"We clearly do not know the same Dr Stark. This is a sad fact for you. Once again, I have to inform you that you have zero say in Wolf's medical decisions."

"Yes I do and stop calling him that! I'm his medical proxy and I currently feel he is unfit to make such decisions."

Wolf was stood staring at Steve as if he'd never seen the man before. She assumed that having your supposed best friend accuse you of lacking the mental faculties to choose your own treatment was a kick in the gut.

"No, he likes being called Wolf. You would also have to go to court to prove that. As you are currently a wanted fugitive, you are incapable of that."

"Also, ya ain't my proxy Steve. Shuri is."

With that they left, Steve could be heard shouting for them for quite a distance. Security at the villa was also stepped way up.

"How did you know I needed help so fast?"

"Remember Tony has an AI called FRIDAY?"

"Yeah?"

"Well he has another AI. After Ultron, he met Laura and Barton's kids, he'd already been considering this program when his at the time girlfriend was kidnapped. An AI dedicated to protection. Not of the Avengers, but of their friends, family, children. The people made vulnerable by their jobs basically. An AI to protect them, he calls him 'The Guardian of Their Personal Hells'. His name is CERBERUS."

"Okay..?"

"Apparently, because Tony has put so much into helping you, he took it upon himself to add the both of us to his prime directive."

"Why me?"

"I could answer that if it would help Madadh-allaidh?"

"Um, OK. CERBERUS I presume?"

"That's me. Ceannard has a habit of collecting people, and he cares for them deeply. He considers Shuri as one of his now. You are important to the Bana-phrionnsa. Ceannard also has spent many, many hours trying to help you, so I conclude that you are important to Ceannard. Therefore you must be protected."

She tried not to smile as he processed that and looked slightly overwhelmed by the AIs proclamation that he was important to Tony. She suspected it would be similar to the look of utter confusion on Tony's face if he found it about it.

" Well. Um. Thank you CERBERUS. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't gotten Shuri to me."

"You're very welcome Madadh-allaidh. I hope you are not in future situations that require my aid. If you ever need me, you can speak to me on your tablet."

"Oh?"

"I like to keep in contact with my charges."

"Aww, CERBERUS, you're sweet."

"Thank you, Bana-phrionnsa"

"Come on, let's go and watch that movie in my lab shall we? I'm expecting a call from Tony later where he's going to discuss how the adaptive program is going. He's going to complain that it isn't working properly, I'm going to suggest that he run the programme directly like we discussed and he's going to get flustered. It should be fun, yes?"

"Okay, let him know that it's fine too. But make sure he knows he doesn't have to do this, I have a feeling many people expected him to do things and I don't want to be like that. Also, any idea what CERBERUS was calling me?"

"CERBERUS likes to give people nicknames in Scots Gaelic, Madadh-allaidh means Wolf."

"Huh, that's really cool."

Shuri just grinned as they made their way back to her lab. Wondering if these two idiots were ever going to stop thinking they were forcing their presence on the other. From how much her Wolf had read about Tony, and the notes on the Algorithms, and how much time and effort Tony was pouring into this, yet they were all _'But I don't want to impose myself on them_!' Still! They'd sent actual _paper_ letters to each other, Tony had responded according to T'Challa. With actual _words_ written on _paper_. Now they were sending messages on the glasses. For Bast's sake, Tony programmed him a screensaver on the glasses with birds just because she mentioned that Barnes liked the birds on the back of his letter!

Why were boys so infuriatingly stupid?!

They were halfway through the first movie when the call started to come through. Shuri raised an eyebrow offering him the chance to leave if he wished. Although she knew he would stay. He felt slightly bad for snooping on the calls but she knew that her Wolf was very curious about the American engineer. He had a curious streak a mile wide. So when he moved to his corner, taking the fluffy blanket she had immediately wrapped around him when they were away from those stupid idiots she grinned. He pulled his legs up and cocooned himself in the chair, somehow making his rather large frame quite small. It was utterly adorable.

"Tony! You got my data packets I can see."

"How can you tell?"

"You look both perplexed and annoyed."

Tony scoffed but didn't contradict what she was saying, which left her grinning at him smugly.

"This just doesn't make any sense, the original program should constantly adjust within the set parameters. For more complex ones, therapists contact me for a personal adjustment to the code like I did with Barnes at the start.. and that works. I already did that for Barnes but the system isn't adjusting, well it is but not enough, or his brain is adjusting right back, and me guiding each session isn't good enough anymore."

"So no other therapists have had a similar issue?"

"Nope, and I called every single place that is using them and I combed through their data."

"Tony, that must have taken hours!"

"Eh, not important. Also, as Barnes is Improving, it seems to be getting worse, weirdly. Keep going for now, but avoid the code words, that's where the biggest discrepancies are, and the rest is still helping him, I can see that from the data. Now we have the integration complete, all I can think of is to ask Barnes if I can act as the program instead of guiding it, at least occasionally, it will still be mostly the programme but I can step in. I'll be more directly involved though, so it's his call. I don't like it, I've already practically forced my presence on him, he's already offered up so much and I'm still stuck."

She could tell Tony was stressed, and she wondered when the man last slept. He was slightly more dishevelled than usual, his hair was going in all directions from how many times he'd ran his hands through it, and as he was practically whacking his head slightly in frustration. She wanted to throttle the man and get it through to him that Barnes didn't mind his involvement! The other idiot was feeling bad for involving him! They were _exhausting_.

"I'd hoped I could have helped him without getting involved, the guy deserves to feel safe. Not like the guy who attacked him wants access to his mind. I know he doesn't believe _everything_ the others said of me, but I also know what I look like online, and that they're probably constantly badmouthing me. I don't know if I'd want me in my brain."

She shook her head, because from what she knew, he had been researching the man online but came away with mostly _positive_ opinions.

"Don't worry Tony, he's much too smart to believe crap from the Witch and her Archer. "

"If he doesn't mind, I have a friend who could potentially help, Stephy could give me a good idea of what to do next. He's a pretty amazing neurosurgeon. Well, he's a wizard too, but more importantly, he was a _doctor_ before he went and got magiced up. He's good at straightening out my brain when it's running around like kittens on catnip."

"Well I'll ask him that as well, he feels confident in you working on this and trusts your judgement."

"I'm still not sure about me partially acting as the code Shuri, it's a big ask."

"Well if you got his permission What will you do?"

"I'll code directly with the program, tailoring the algorithm so it should make it easier to disassociate memories."

"Is that all?"

"Well yeah, that's what I need to do?"

Tony had his head tilted to one side, still wearing his sunglasses but she could see the confusion in his face.

"So it doesn't even occur to you to do anything nefarious?"

"Of course not! I wouldn't… he's had enough people messing with his brain."

"So what's the problem"

"Shuri, you might think I'm this nice, good person but generally that is not the perception of me. People see me as selfish, arrogant, heartless and uncaring. I'm not a _'good'_ person."

"But that's utterly stupid, you wouldn't do all this work if you weren't a good person Tony. Please tell me you don't believe that."

He just shrugged, looking oddly defeated, not too different than when she'd first started talking to him in the hospital. He only seemed to fall into this when the rogues were mentioned and to say it angered her was an understatement, she wanted to know what they had done to leave such a brilliant man filled with self hatred.

She hoped the videos she had sent, of the Rogues reaction to the press conference, hadn't resulted in Tony slipping back into thinking less of himself. For a man who claimed to have a huge ego, most of his snark seemed to be directed inwards and he was quite vulnerable to people's expectations and opinions. Not of the press or the public really, he was an expert at dealing with them, but to people he let in, in the quiet of his home away from the press. He tended to give people everything she'd noticed, including everything of himself and keep nothing back to protect himself. It was one of the many reasons she wished to rage at her unwanted guests.

They were hurting both of her boys in someway or another.

Even if they were idiots, they were _her_ idiots.

"I'm used to it, but I know that's what people think. If he researched me he probably thinks that to right? Plus the last time we met, I attacked the guy. A guy who'd been tortured for decades I attacked him and worst of all I made him fight. I get the feeling that he didn't want to fight but I was just.. All I felt was white hot rage. Which was actually good surprisingly. "

"Huh?"

"I go to this place sometimes in fights where everything becomes static and my emotions just dial down.."

"So you didn't want to kill him if you didn't go to that place."

"No, no, I didn't want to kill him. I just.. I just needed to let it out, I needed Rogers to HURT. Stupid anyway, I guess I thought Rogers would try to desesculate. I wasn't really _thinking_."

"But he did not."

She couldn't keep the growl out of her voice, she also heard shifting behind her. She hadn't realised her conversation with Tony would take this path when she'd given Barnes the option of remaining.

"There was a moment I thought he'd actually kill me you know, he lifted that shield and I swore he was going to aim for my neck, the shield even scraped off my elbow before it slammed into the arc reactor."

"I'm sorry Tony, it's horrid he took knowledge of being your friend and used it against you."

"More that you know.. "

He muttered to himself but the mic picked up on it.

"Huh?"

"I, uh.. Rogers knew all about my multiple heart surgeries. That I had a donor sternum, that it was weaker because of how much they hacked out in Afghanistan to install the tube the Electromagnetic sat in. How it was then shifted for the arc reactor setting. The hit utterly shattered the new sternum. Some of my ribs too. Basically turned them to shrapnel in my chest. "

He flinched then, and she knew that he hadn't actually meant to ramble on with that much information. But she wasn't letting this go, if it took a rambling, sleep deprived Tony Stark for her to get the full story of what happened in Siberia so she could help her friend, she'd do it. She'd also known theoretically that stuff would have to be removed and move around for the arc reactor, but she hadn't realised what the magnet going as deep as his heart meant. It would have half crushed his lung too.

"Bast Tony, that's awful, what other injuries did you get from the Battle?"

"Not sure to be honest, and that isn't me deflecting, I actually don't know everything. I had some brain swelling. Apart from the lacerations of the suit pushed in from the shield, normal bumps and such from being thrown about, I guess. Broken collarbone from when he wrenched me down by my neck too."

"So what actually happened to your hand? You said frostbite, but that does explain much."

She feels guilty immediately for saying frostbite at Tony flinch from the word.

"Gods Shuri are you sure you want to know all the awful details?"

"Yes, no more lying to Shuri."

"OK. If I tell you some things, will you wait till we are in person to tell you the rest?"

"Okay, as long as you promise we meet up soon."

"Okay, my arm had a few breaks and fractures that exacerbated the severe frostbite. The suit was damaged, certain parts of me were.. _Exposed_ for longer."

"It was a lot to be amputated.."

"Yeah, I couldn't move much, so I was just stuck in the suit. Even the shivering was restricted so I couldn't protect myself like most freezing people do. No power, no heat. I only wear a flight suit underneath, it's like a… modified scuba suit and it was damaged too. The armour was compromised in places, one of my boots was cracked open, there was considerable damage to my left gauntlet and my face was completely exposed and that's all I know of. Rhodey refuses to let me see the pictures of what I looked like when I came out of the suit and he wiped all the information with my full injuries. If I hadn't had access to things because I'm me, and Cho with her Cradle, I'd have lost much more than just my lower arm."

He moved closer to the camera that normal, lifting his right hand to the camera. She'd never noticed it before, but the entire of his right hand and wrist is covered by a delicate lace like white scaring. His shirt covers the rest so she has no idea how far up it goes. As he moved back, the camera focused on his face close up and she can see them on his face too. From both his ears and down his neck, on to his cheeks. Some hidden by the glasses. It's much worse on the left side than the right. Now she's seen them, she can't _not_ see them and wonders how on earth she'd missed it before.

"I have tons of these."

He shrugs and doesn't move to show her more, which definitely leaves her wondering.

"Thank you for telling me Tony."

"You're welcome, I didn't hide this from you cause I didn't think you could handle them you know, I just.. Didn't want to dump my baggage on your door."

"Tony, your my friend, friends tell each other things so we can help each other. You helped me deal with the aftermath of.. Vienna after all."

"As a rule, most people don't want to deal with Tony Stark baggage. The few times I have they either tell me no or think I'm making stuff up because everyone knows rich white kids have perfect childhoods and happy families."

His laugh is slightly jaded and Shuri wants to go on a rampage against everyone who has hurt this man. She's starting to understand more and more why he puts on the Tony Stark persona. It's protection.

"Anyway, how did we get to talking about my '_Tragic Backstory'_ again?"

"You were telling me how you think Barnes won't let you near his brain"

She can't not roll her eyes at that. But how visibly disturbed he looked at the idea of pressuring Barnes into treatment makes her smile in a way.

"Shuri, I'm just worried he's going to feel pressured into it. Like he has no choice but to agree with me."

"I don't think he feels forced Tony. I'm sure he would tell me if he did."

"Well I'll leave it up to him. He's had his choices taken away for decades, so whatever he decides, I will go with it."

"That's very kind of you Tony, I'm sure he'd like that and I'll thank you too. He needs more people willing to respect his choices."

Watching Tony get flustered from being thanked had become one of her favourite things. Plus, she tried to thank him often, apparently according to Peter, the New Avengers had noticed his reaction to being thanked too. So he was likely being thanked often, but not too often as to make him uncomfortable.

"It's basic common decency. What kind of monster would take his decisions away after what he's been through? And you don't need to thank me. At all."

He looked like he was begging her to stop thanking him. She grinned.

"How about I'll stop Thanking you if you eat some non liquidated food and sleep?"

"Hey! Don't knock my shakes. They're healthy and good for you!"

"Go eat and sleep you crazy man!"

"Yes mom!"

"CERBERUS will tell me if you don't."

"My own Son ratting on me. Charming."

"Not my fault if you need directions to look after yourself."

"I can look after myself just fine, thank you very much."

"Fine, when was the last time you ate solid food or slept?

"Boss has been awake for 54 hours and 46 minutes Princess."

"I'm sure I ate something. I think there was a sandwich that appeared next to me at some point. I cooked for the boys. I probably ate then."

"This is proving my point. You need a minder to drag you out of the workshop and put you to bed occasionally. To eat too."

He just scoffed at that.

"Pft, no one has a chance against me. But I'll go now and eat if her highness dictates thusly."

"She does."

He grinned at that before ending the call. Even though it had gotten pretty heavy there a few times. And she still thought that Tony was basically a 12 year old when it came to caring for himself and needed someone to drag him away from the workshop. But she couldn't say to much, she had occasionally gotten caught up in her projects. She liked that they ended their conversations with smiles more often than not.

"I didn't realise how much damage he'd taken in Siberia, or how bad his frostbite was. I didn't even see the scars on his face, they're so delicate."

"Me neither, but he has healed fast."

Much too fast actually, the lace white scars looked much older than something he'd gotten in June.

"Clint said something the other day, when we were watching that interview that he crashed. It was cryptic and he more muttered it to himself, and he never explained."

"What did he say?"

_" Stark… He survives . It's what he does, against all odds. He survives."_

"Well that is odd. But Tony is quite good at surviving, I didn't realise what having an electromagnetic connected to a car battery, then the arc reactor fully meant. Well I knew but I never fully considered it. How his bones were removed, lung partially crushed. To survive from that, it's pretty impressive."

Pretty weird too, 3 months in a cave post op. Frequent torture she suspected. She doubted the magnet or car battery was sterilised. Her Wolf shuddered at the idea, obviously the first time the full weight of that hitting him too.

"I can just be happy he did."

"Me too. Without him I'd still be in cryo sleep."

She wrapped him back up into the blanket to finish their movie. Then started plotting for how she could convince him to move into the Palace.

**Wolf POV **

'The man called Wolf mocked me for liking Winter or Soldat...'

A slightly weaker than normal voice jarred him from his rest before he realised what was happening. The absence of the voice had.. Troubled him more than he'd like to admit.

'WINTER!'

'Yes, shout in our head when we have a migraine. Umnaya. Smart.'

He couldn't help but feel relieved in some way, he glanced at his tablet to see if Wings had gotten back to him yet so he didn't have to think about that much, a scoff could be heard in his mind.

**Wings-**Steve read the files you sent, he's more on board with the therapy but still wants to talk to make sure you're ok to do it.

**Me**-Okay, tell him I'll talk to him in the morning. Today's been exhausting, especially after earlier. I think it's best if everyone sleeps on it and calms down. Tell him I won't be there if the Ved'ma is.

**Wings**-OK.

Huh. He'd expected more of a reply to Wings after that. But then it's been a long day for him to. He probably just wanted to get some sleep himself. Plus, the man had not only stood up for him, he'd stood _in-between_ him and Wanda. Winter now is very happy with the man, as well as Shuri and CERBERUS it seemed. He can feel the curiosity coming off of him about the latter.

He stands, stretching his back that has developed a bit of an ache curled up in his chair in Shuri's lab and decided it was time to head back to the villa. He'd hidden out at the lab for several hours, they'd watched 3 films and then there had been that conversation with Dr Stark.

He knew he was snooping on phone calls, and that was bad. But Winter was interested in finding stuff out about the man who was fixing their brain. He supposed he could be a little intrigued as well, especially after the man had written back to him. Forgave him and apologised to him. He was still getting his head around that. They'd mostly spoken since via Shuri and the glasses. So the phone calls were like extra pieces of information on the confusing puzzle of Dr Stark. The man who seemed just as comfortable in suits that cost the same as a house as torn, stained jeans and ancient band shirts. From impeccably dressed and groomed to literally having black grease from something on his face.

The man was a feature of contradictions.

He still hadn't expected him to look so… resigned. The way he spoke about how others perceived him was uncomfortable, not because of the cruelty as such. It was his quiet acceptance that had hit him the most.

That everyone expected the worst, point in case, Steve, Wanda and Clint's reactions to discovering the glasses. Yet, he didn't even consider using the permissions he'd handed over for a bad way. Instead, he was working himself to the point of exhaustion, forgoing sleep and food, just to help _him_. He hoped there was someone around to tell the man off for neglecting his health and to get some sleep.

As much as he wanted his brain to be codeword free? He didn't want it at the expense of someone else's health.

Dr Stark had already been through more than enough, the few scars that he'd show Shuri showed that. He didn't doubt other events had carved themselves into his skin just as readily. Weirdly, Clints comment had stuck in his mind, that he survives. He hadn't said it in a good way, as if he survived past the point you just want your body to give up to stop the suffering. He understood that. There were so many moments he just wished his body would give up, but that damned serum, it just kept him going.

They broke his bones and they just healed, everytime.

They tore at his flesh and it came back, pink and overly sensitive. Over and over.

His arm… God's his arm. He remembered waking up to them sawing off the mangled mess to better install the socket.

He didn't know when they did it, but there were steel reinforcements in his chest, because the arm was so heavy it wrenched and tore his ligaments that then just healed over and over.

Although Dr Stark had given him hope there. He had assumed a metal limb would hurt. That that was the only option. Constant pain.

But the limb that Shuri and Dr Stark made.. It was light, it was designed to me a hand instead of a weapon. It could _feel. _

The metal arm had only hurt and its purpose was to hurt others. After every wipe he had to relearn how to use it too. Because he couldn't feel he often crushed things unintentionally. Hitting things to soft, or too hard. Then there was the fact it unbalanced him drastically with how heavy he was. When Dr Stark blasted it off, it had been a gift. A gift the man didn't have to apologise for, but he didn't know how to say that.

'You blasting my arm off was the best thing to ever happen to me before Wakanda!'

Not the best way of showing you aren't crazy. Even if he knew. He took the arm apart and from that alone he knew about the pain. He knows that he's still in pain somehow, even though he still hadn't told anyone about the socket pain. It was less than the arm so he just counted himself lucky. The way he described it too, the man knew constant chronic pain. From how Shuri described the magnet in his chest.. He found himself hoping that he had found a fix for his pain. Clint had mentioned his ability to work through pain, he supposed what scraps he knew from Afghanistan would breed a tolerance to pain.

He decided to actually send a reply, Shuri had offered to send any other letters back. He'd put effort into responding, so it was only polite to return that.

He wasn't sure if he should tell the man that reading that letter was one of the few times he hadn't felt _wrong_ about his name. Now he had two names that made him happy. Wolf… James.

All the Buckys made him nauseated. Barnes was tolerable, but it felt.. Off too. Sergeant Barnes was oddly better. That was just his. He'd been Bucky for so long, after the draft that had changed. But then he was rescued by a weird, bigger Stevie. He became Bucky again, to everyone. James however, that was something different. All it had taken was an impulsive scratch at the end of that first letter, because it had felt like Steve said Bucky in every damned sentence that day. The Witch and Archer were similar. But just two words and a man across the ocean gave him a name. An absolutely obvious one that for some reason he'd never considered before.

He liked it, but he was keeping it to himself for now.

He was back at the villa before he knew it, his feet carrying him down the path he trod daily with little conscious thought, that was when he realised that he'd forgotten his damned bag. So much for reading in bed tonight. Which was odd as he never forgot his bag, it had been with him practically since he'd picked it up. Today had him off kilter.

He veered off away from the door. He'd told Wings that he didn't want to chat to them tonight, and he'd agreed. But he wouldn't put it past them to lay in wait in the common room. Waiting for him to get in to talk it out now with some feeble excuse as to why his very simple request was ignored. It would be interesting to see how Steve got the Witch to not be present.

Steve might see her as a sweet innocent child. He saw her as manipulating and cruel. She'd made that argument so much worse earlier, like she was whispering poison in Steve's ear. She definitely was at fault for his increased pain too, no matter what Steve said. He didn't know why but his instincts screamed at him when she was around. Winter was a mixture of rage and fear that he struggled to talk about her. The clearer his mind got from BARF, the louder that instinct got too, it went from an uneasy feeling at the beginning to this horror, fear and gut instinct to run. It had broken through his panic attack last night, when that red… that was cold like the dark sleep of cryo, touched him and she was going to _check his mind_.

He didn't know how she could do that, but then he didn't understand her powers. At first he'd thought she was telekinetic, but he was starting to think it was more. Steve had called her telekinetic, either he didn't know what she was capable of, or Steve was lying to him. At least he knew one way around her powers, unfortunately it meant _touching_ her.

He came to the wall under his window and pulled himself up onto the stones. It would definitely have been easier with two arms he thought, but luckily the stones lent themselves to scaling easily. He knocked his window open and hopped into his room. He stayed in the crouch however because something was _WRONG_.

He stayed crouched, he moved to the light switch, staying low, making himself a smaller target and in the wrong place if someone shot at him. The first thing he noticed was his door was practically ripped off its hinges. The Witch was sat on his sofa, relaxed back across it with her shoes on the cushions. Steve was stood behind the sofa, leaning on the back of it behind her. Full on earnest face with puppy dog eyes. He kept his eye on the two of them and glanced around for the Archer, who had come up behind him and closed the window.

Winter was pure rage, he burnt at the invasion of our space. He actually remembered having things as Bucky, even though they felt detached. He had memories of an apartment. A room that was his. The closest Winter got was Romania and he hadn't been much more than the broken remnants of the Asset back then. Romania had been more his. Winter been in pieces and too scared to come forward, he found it strange how that part of his mind was so strong, so capable of damage, but was so new and scared too. So this place, in Wakanda, it was his. Sure, he shared it with him, but that was acceptable. This however, was not acceptable, he wanted out and he wanted to rage. He kept his voice calm and measured however.

"Get out of my room. Now."

"Bucky, we're here to help, to hold an intervention."

He took a deep breath and let it out. He didn't take his eyes off of any of them. The Archer had dropped onto one of his chairs with his feet up on the table. Obviously satisfied with the locked window.

'If you throw the Ved'ma out of the window, it will be open.'

'Not helping Winter.'

"Steve. I don't need an intervention. Leave. now."

Why couldn't these people respect his requests like other people? Did they just not hear when he said no? Even Dr Stark respected his wishes and they'd barely met each other! Siberia didn't count as an actual meeting in his mind.

'Could throw Kapitan out of the window instead?'

He just about stopped his mouth twitching into a smile at that.

"Why so hostile humpty dumpty?"

'We could also throw the Luchnik Archer out of the window too.'

He didn't respond to that, because he really wanted to throw the archer out of the window, he was sensing a theme. Scratch that. He wanted all of them gone. But they used his anger as a reason he was incapable of making decisions. Even when he was being calm and measured they were calling him hostile. They hadn't seen hostile.

"See, this is what I'm talking about Bucky. Obviously this therapy is hurting you or you wouldn't be so hostile."

"So because I don't like having my personal space invaded I'm being mind fucked by Dr Stark?"

"You've never minded me being in your space before so yes!"

"Steve, for one there isn't just you in here you invited oth-"

"That's because we are family!"

"STOP TALKING OVER ME. Let. Me. Finish."

"Yeah, you are clearly fine, screaming at your best friend. Stark has clearly done nothing to you, isn't brainwashing you into his little pet."

He levels a glare at Wanda and feels Winter closer to the surface, close enough to look out but not take over. He feels his other half's amusement when she freezes. This close however, some of the rage gets into his calm measured speech and he practically roared at them. The Archer actually paled and flinched.

"There are three of you in my personal space. I haven't fucking had a personal space in 7 fucking decades. So I'm sorry if I'm touchy about having a space that is mine that I control! Ya ne khachu s taboy razgavarivat! I don't want to talk to you! That's why I asked to speak to you tomorrow!"

"That therapy is totally working. Going all Winter Soldier on us is a testament to it."

Clint practically snarled.

"I'm sorry Buck, but I didn't know if you'd come straight here and avoid the common room and we needed to talk to you!"

"Sure, perfect reason to ignore the wishes of the man who had his personal autonomy stolen for nearly a century."

He couldn't help the sneer in his voice, he wanted them gone. Now.

"We are here to tell you that you need to stop the therapy run by Stark. I think it's already changed you enough and we are going to help you get past that. We're here for you Buck, to the end of the line."

"So what, turn me back to being terrified of saying No? Because of that tech I actually feel like I can say 'No' now. I'm sleeping better, I'm flinching less, I'm getting out and talking to people. How terrible are these things Sam for someone with my past? "

He turns to ask Sam who had wandered up the stairs warily, likely drawn by the screaming.

"Actually that sounds amazi-"

"Of course he'd say that! It probably forces him to so we wouldn't save him by stopping him!"

Wanda cries passionately. He and Sam just look at her like she's lost it and both are concerned to see Steve and Clint nodding along.

"Wanda's right Buck. Plus, even if it is working, you've had loads of sessions you come back looking wrung out and who knows how long it will take to remove the triggers!"

"Do you realise how stupid what you're saying is?! Therapy does that, it's not sunshine and daisies. I have some awful memories in here, of course it will be awful! If it was eas-"

He tapped the side of head in frustration when he said _'in here'_. Steve flinched even though he hadn't done it that hard, it had helped get some of the frustration out. He wanted to hit something. What he would give for a punching bag right now.

"It _should_ be easy though Buck, you shouldn't be _suffering_ through these memories, you were _innocent_, it wasn't you! So what's the point of you reliving them to get rid of them? You should be able to just be free of them!"

Steve was just talking absolute nonsense. Yeah he hadn't been in control, neither had Winter really. Neither of them could choose their actions, they were under such a tight leash and treated badly for failure. But it was still his body, his mind. The glasses couldn't just delete memories, there was a whole section about why completely erasing memories wasn't wise. He could lose who he was.

"I'm leaving right now. When I get back, you all need to be out of my room."

"But Bucky!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT. I'M NOT, NOT HI-!"

"We have a better way, you'll be fine in no time and back to bring the Bucky I knew and loved!"

He was about to yell at Steve for cutting him off. Again.. Because abiding by his wishes was impossible apparently, calling him Bucky was more important than that. He wished he knew what version of Bucky lived in his mind. Because of the Wakandan treatment, he could see all the memories before the draft with perfect clarity. Steve's had been rose-tinted. He'd utterly eulogised him, rewritten him to this perfect friend, but then when it turned out he wasn't dead, he kept looking for this perfect Bucky.

'Wolf! Leave. Leave now.'

'Why'

'JUST GO!'

He was thrown by the sense of urgency from his other and staggered slightly, adrenaline flooded him, it wasn't often he advocated flight over fight. So he asked Steve instead.

"What?"

"Wanda will remove the triggers and the torture and everything. You'll be happy again and be the real Bucky! Isn't that kind of her? She can take you back from before you fell, you won't have any memories of Hydra or anything after the fall!"

He looked around the room, Sam behind him looked sick. Clint was looking at Wanda with all the pride in the world, Steve grinning like an idiot and Wanda had a cold, sly smile on her face that turned saccharine. He wondered if this was to be her revenge for keeping her away from Sam?

"I just want to help you Bucky. Just let me help you be happy with Steve."

Red seeped from her hands, like the magic was bleeding out of her… And reaching for him. The fear that had caused him to freeze at Steve's words fled under a slam of adrenaline that surged through him.

'Run. NOW. GO!'

He too two steps back to the window as Wings was frozen and the door.

"Steve, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Why not Sam? Wanda wants to help Bucky, she can do it without hurting him, unlike what Stark has him doing."

"Steve, you can't just _magic away_ PTSD!"

"As _I_ am the only one here with magic, I think _I'll_ be the judge of that. _I_ am the _expert_ here Sam."

He didn't know how it happened, but she'd crossed the room and he'd frozen again, but he couldn't remember freezing or choosing to stay. But her hand was on the side of his head and it was cold. Freezing cold. The dark was closing in on him and then her voice… was inside his mind…

'Oh you have so many delicious memories I can trap you in. So many that you'll spend years trying to escape, but on the outside you'll be Steve's perfect little Bucky, doing _whatever_ I want…'

Then there is pain. Pain and red and cold burning him to his core..

'NO. GET OUT! '

There was a crash and he blinked and Wanda was on the floor several feet away, looking dazed and confused.

"Bucky, why did you do that, she was only trying to help, do you want me to-"

"Help? Help?! She didn't want to help me. She wanted me to suffer!"

Steve takes another step towards him and Clint towards Wanda, he glanced at Sam who mouthed 'Run' to him and this time he does what he's told because Clint already had Wanda on her feet and her hands were leaking that red mist. He had a last look at his rooms, and hates that he's being forced to lose yet another home and hurls himself at the window. Hates that he's forced to abandon Wings. Then, glass is shattering and raining down around him as he landed on his feet in a crouch. He immediately bolted to the front where the extra guards are posted. He doesn't have too long before they come down the stairs.

"Please, get me out of here, help.. They're coming.."

One of the guards does something to the door and a screen drops, from the noises, it also blocked all of the windows. With this being Wakanda, he bets it Vibranium too. He blinked at the house and saw it for what it was. A very effective, very pretty, prison. Something he was damned thankful for right now.

"Do you want me to take you to T'Challa?"

The woman smiled, friendly and like the other guard, looked fierce. Unlike the others he had befriended the guards and pretty much anyone who respected his personal space to be honest. His standards might be a touch low. Out of the rogues Wings and TicTac were the closest. Oh god, he was leaving them behind. With _her_. But Wings had told him to run. He nodded, too much and frantically. She guided him without touching him and he was so thankful. He could feel himself shaking but he didn't know why, he felt cold but the night was balmy and warm. He was just happy his legs were moving. The adrenaline was still coursing through him, now it was useless but even with the serum it would take a while to filter out.

He could hear Steve shouting for him, hear him demanding to be allowed past, that they had no right to hold them.

If he could speak he'd be concerned for the guard they left behind, but the adrenaline had him shaking so violently now despite the heat his teeth chattered.

At least they're safe behind the Vibranium shields, although he is worried for Wings, and potentially TicTac if he was at home as well.

He hoped they'd be safe, he signs as best he can to tell the guard that Wings and TicTac are still in there.

He was surprised they understood him. His hands were shaking so much.

He didn't remember much about the trip to the Palace just one minute he was moving away from the villa and the next minute he was sat in a comfortable chair in the Kings office. He'd acquired a blanket at some point.

It isn't until Shuri and T'Challa burst in that he can finally relax.

'Safe?'

'Yeah Winter, we're safe now.'

'We thought we were safe in Bucharest. We thought we were safe in our rooms. How do you know Wolf?'

'Because Shuri is here.'

'The little Koshkacat will protect you?'

'She'll protect us Winter.'

'She doesn't know I exist little Wolf. No one does, but you.'

Fuck.


End file.
